


Zavanra

by Azalea542



Category: Pocahontas (1995), The Adventures of Sinbad (TV)
Genre: Earth-like setting, F/M, Romance, Spiritual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 04:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19456243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azalea542/pseuds/Azalea542
Summary: A bit of Christian fantasy. Zavanra is an indigenous girl about to become a woman when settlers from another continent arrive in her world. One of them, Eliah Qwess, takes a special interest in her.  Part of my stories set on the Earth-like planet of Altierra.





	1. Part One: New World, New Life

**Author's Note:**

> It was the late 1990's, a good time for me except all my favorite fictional couples were being broken up, including Pocahontas/John Smith from the Disney movie, and Sinbad/Maeve from The Adventures of Sinbad (1997). Many fans wrote fanfics to repair the broken relationships (at the expense of John Rolfe and Bryn), but back then, I wrote quasi-fanfic, where I change the names of characters from favorite TV shows/movies and make them my own, but in the back of my mind, they are still those pre-existing TV/movie characters. So this was my way of helping to repair the damage done. And since I also changed the setting, I can make characters evolved from Pocahontas characters related to Sinbad characters! I wrote AO3 in 2017 about whether quasi-fanfics are allowed here, and I got the okay signal. I have other stories in the works related to "Zavanra", like a prequel from the POV of O'felia (Maeve).

LIFE ONE: ZAVANRA

PART ONE: NEW WORLD, NEW LIFE

I

THE MEETING

Sometimes, Zavanra wondered how she adapted to the changes so well. They were so drastic, after all. But as traumatic as great change can be, there were blessings that came with it. Eliah Qwess, for the best example. 

For almost two decades, Zavanra had known only about Azules when it came to humans, and even then she had little contact with any Azules outside the Smoky Waters tribe. Then the peachskin explorers had arrived, bringing tales of humans other than themselves--people of golden skin and silver skin and every variation in between, not just blue with black markings like her people. People living in all sorts of settlements, cities of brick and towns of wood, not just burrowing as the Smoky Waters people did.

They had arrived in her nineteenth year. She had been amongst the first to see them--the first to see their vessel, for that matter. It was a fresh spring day. She had been at the coast, watching the gulls soaring about and wishing she had wings. Something on the horizon caught her eye; she thought it must be a whale or a dolphin. It seemed to move slowly; Zavanra fell asleep on the sand.

And when she awoke, they were there on the shore. Humans of different skin tones and hair colors, bewildering to the eye.

She had watched them, laying low and scared. Yet she was anxious to greet them, to welcome them to the region, as she had often greeted distant cousins or the few delegates from other tribes.

Slowly she stood. This startled the strangers, who themselves had been gazing about warily. They held up sticks that Zavanra's instincts recognized as weapons. She froze.

Run, she must run, one side of her mind argued with her. But the other side reasoned that they might throw or aim their weapons at her back if she did.

The strangers babbled amongst themselves, then one young man finally drew away from the crowd and towards Zavanra. She held her breath. He smiled, took cautious steps as he neared her, occasionally not moving at all.

She looked him in the eyes. His eyes sparkled like sunlight on blue waters. She knew he must be kind, perhaps even good company. This time the reasonable side of her mind encouraged flight, however, telling her she could not base a character judgement merely on someone's eyes.

He was uncomfortably close now; only an arm’s length away. He reached out his own hand. In an instant, Zavanra's urge to flee became irresistible.

No one pursued her, or made an attempt to fell her. From the cover of the trees on a hillside, she looked back at the men. The one who had approached her was now shaking his head wistfully.

She had babbled the news to a girlfriend. Now, as the sun set, Zavanra found herself interrogated. In a secluded cave she gathered with her stepsister Xalina, Uboro the mystic, and her father. Sitting down by the fire, she drew her legs up into her arms. On her right, her peer Xalina knelt. The androgynous mystic sat crosslegged on her left. Zavanra had never figured out his gender, and thought of him as masculine or feminine according to her mood on any given day. Next to Uboro was her father.

"These men, they were not blue like us, and they had no stripes either," Zavanra reported. "They were more like the color of...of...the sand at the beach, perhaps. Or the pale color on some animals' bellies."

"There were no women?" Xalina asked again.

"No."

"What kind of creatures are these, that they exist with no means to reproduce?" the mystic wondered, his hands held out as though appealing to the heavens.

Zavanra giggled. "I just think they left the girls back at home. The way one of them looked at me I know..." She trailed off as though just realizing her father, the headman Zavan, was present. She cleared her throat. "Never mind."

Uboro spoke for her father. "You must beware, child." The mystic's voice wavered between high and low. The high-pitched end reminded Zavanra of a frightened male speaking in a squeaky tone; the lower utterings reminded her of a husky-voiced female. "Beware males that have long been kept from the companionship of females. Sometimes they demand companionship from those who have no desire to give it."

"I believe you, Uboro," Zavanra acknowledged. "Honestly. I know you speak the truth, and you are not the only one to have made such observations. I don’t wish to make them myself from first hand experience."

Her father still said nothing, but looked relieved.

"The one who looked at me, though," Zavanra clarified. "I do’nt believe he is that kind of man. When I was talking about the way he looked at me, it was not a leer or anything like that." She sighed. "Perhaps it had nothing to do with love or lust at all." She looked up, her chin raised confidently. "What those eyes did say to me was that this was a man of peace, of friendliness, and one who would not take that which was not his." She looked back down at the fire. "I can’t speak for all his companions; I only hope this is true of them as well."

Her father spoke for the first time. "You would welcome everyone with open arms, Zavanra," he scolded, his words stern but his voice gentle.

"Oh, I would be more cautious than that, father. But I would welcome everyone with kindness, at least."

"If a creature of the woods, say a wolf, greeted you with a pounce and with bared teeth, would you treat it with kindness?" Uboro asked theoretically. "No, you would kill it if need be to defend yourself."

"What are you saying, Uboro?" Zavanra demanded. "None of these men attacked me."

"Not yet, but they might."

"That's why I was cautious in the first place. But I'm not going to agree to violence against them just because they **might** be dangerous."

Her father extended his hands, gesturing at them to be still. "No one is going to hurt them without reason. I called this meeting merely to learn more, learn things that might help me if such a decision as whether to fight or to offer peace becomes necessary later." He rose from the ground. "Now let’s all go our ways and sleep in peace."

II

WELCOME COMMITTEE

Zavan made the final decisions, but it was Zavanra's idea he implemented by sending ambassadors, armed with baskets of flowers, to the strangers' camp. He chose Shodish from the males, and allowed Zavanra to represent the females.

She guessed the strangers must have chosen the man who had looked so intently at her as the one to represent them, for he again approached alone. She met his eyes as she walked forward. Again, that gaze--something that excited her, but did not threaten her. Her heart pounded. Finally, she cast her eyes downward and she, as well as Shodish, lay the baskets on the ground. They bowed politely, then backed away.

The golden-haired man knelt down by the baskets, and selected a flower from one of them, sniffing it appreciatively. He said a word aloud and deliberately; Zavanra guessed it must be the word for flower. She inched her way back towards the basket, and said her language's word for flower. Shodish remained behind.

Zavanra picked up the basket and said the word for it. The stranger did the same. Zavanra put the basket down, pointed to it, then drew her hands to her heart, spreading them back out towards the man and his companions. She hoped to communicate that the gift came from her people, with best wishes towards the new people. The golden-haired man smiled.

She and he then became wrapped up in a game of pointing and identifying objects in their two languages. Shodish watched for awhile, but then left, returning with Zavan, Uboro, and a few other elders of the tribe. Gradually, the elders drew closer, as did the golden-haired man's comrades.

For the next several weeks, Zavanra and the people of her tribe would go to the strangers' encampment and learn words of Terashiran usage. Other times, Eliah Qwess, as her favorite settler was known, would come with his comrades to Zavan's burrow to learn words used by the Smoky Waters tribe. Both Zavanra and Eliah were quick learners, and soon were able to hold conversations with each other, while others still had to point at things to get their message across. The two enjoyed learning more than anyone else, and often had fun making a game of education. Eliah and Zavanra soon had a language of their own, dubbed Zavanriah by their friends, and they would hold avid conversations in it. It involved some words from his language, and some words in her language, and often the switch from one language to the other would come in the middle of sentences. The hodgepodge code was soon adopted by people on both sides, to facilitate easier communication.

Watching two peoples learning from each other, Zavanra had no doubt they would all live happily and peacefully together. But unknown to her, there were individuals on both sides willing, even eager, to stir up trouble. Within Zavanra's people, Uboro the mystic harbored great jealousy. The peachskins, especially the dark-haired one called Kalil, had different ways of dealing with mild sickness and pains, and had introduced some of their medicines to the Smoky Waters tribe. "This works so much better than just having Uboro shake a stick at you," the mystic overheard one of the tribe say. Plus, the new treatments could focus attention away from the god Kiomar, of whom Uboro was a faithful servant.

Kalil was Eliah's godfather. Eliah called Kalil his uncle, but he was of no blood relation. Kalil had been close friends with Eliah's late father, Finail Qwess, and truer friends were hard to find. After Finail's untimely death, Kalil and Eliah's biological uncle, Dorios, had made sure the fatherless boy had some good male role models. Kalil, busy with four sons of his own, never neglected his godchild. Eliah could not imagine life without his comforting presence.

Eliah and his godfather Kalil found out about Uboro's fanaticism early on. Kalil had accompanied Eliah on a friendly and curious visit to the Smoky Waters tribe's communal clearing when he saw an old Azule woman fall and hurt herself. He ran to her aid, Eliah following. Uboro appeared as if from nowhere, blocking their way and bellowing.

Zavanra ran up to Eliah, slipping her hand into his. "What is he saying?" he asked. Kalil also looked to Zavanra for answers.

She looked at the ground as though ashamed. "He says she is old. We must not help her, but let things..." Here she ran out of ways to translate.

"Let nature take its course," Kalil filled in helpfully.

"Yes."

Uboro ranted on. Zavanra translated. "It is the...want?"

"Wish? Desire?" Kalil asked.

"It is what Quaimore wants. It is what he rules."

"Who is Quaimore?" Eliah asked. "I thought your father ruled your tribe."

Zavanra gestured up at the sky. "Quaimore rules all tribes. Does he not rule yours?"

Kalil snapped his fingers in realization. "Eliah...Quaimore--Kiomar!"

Zavanra nodded her head excitedly. "Yes, Kiomar. He is also called that."

Angered, Kalil made a move toward the old lady, who was struggling to her feet. Uboro shouted out again, a word they now recognized as, "Stop!"

It looked as though Kalil, who was seething, would just shove Uboro out of the way, but Eliah held him back. "Ssshhh! She'll be all right, Kalil. There'll be time to help everyone later."

Kalil glared at Uboro a moment longer, then turned away. "We will free these people," he said to Eliah, softly but with intense emotion.

On Eliah's side, Grablock was the one with a heart set against peace. Even though Zavanra had yet to fully understand the words of his tirade, to those who spoke his language the burly, dark-haired man made no secret that he considered the Smoky Waters people inferior to the peachskins, and thus expendable if the peachskins needed more land. Perhaps they could be of use, however, as slaves.

III

ACCEPTING THE SPIRIT

"What do you call this?" Eliah asked, kissing Zavanra on the cheek. She blushed. On her blue skin, it came out as a lavender glow that matched the purple of her eyes.

"A kiss," she replied, leaning against a tree. "Do you always kiss here?" she wondered, gesturing at her cheek.

"No, sometimes we do it here," he said, pointing at his lips.

"That's where we usually kiss," Zavanra informed him.

There was a heavy, uneasy silence for a moment. Then Eliah leaned his face towards her. She scampered behind the tree. "No no no!" she chided, giggling.

He started to ask why, but changed his question. "When?"

"When? If you are good, maybe I will let you kiss me. Maybe I will kiss you, too."

"I'll be good," Eliah promised.

"You know, I think I love Zavanra," Eliah remarked as he sauntered into camp.

"Yes, of course you do," his godfather Kalil said, sounding distracted. He was kneeling on the ground, using a stick to scratch words in the sand. His eldest sons Hakim and Habib, curly and dark haired like their father, were gathered around him. His wife and other sons were back home in Terashire. "How far do you think we've come communication wise?" Kalil wondered thoughtfully. "Are we ready to tell these people about the True God?"

"You're really set against this Kiomar, aren't you?"

"How can I not be? He's just an advanced but mortal being using his unknown technology and ways to scare people into worshipping him." In his journeys with Finail Qwess, Kalil had had many encounters with so-called gods. He did not know where these gods and goddesses came from, but he did know that they were flawed and fallible. They just had advanced inventions and powers that allowed them to rule entire peoples.

"I'll talk to Zavanra about it," Eliah agreed. "From there, we can figure out how to communicate it to her people." He frowned pensively. "You know, I just realized, if Zavanra is to be my one true love, she must also believe in the True God."

Kalil squinted up at him. "You're thinking of marrying her?"

"Why not? Do you have something against interracial couples?"

"No, I don't, not if they're truly in love. It's just that it took your mother and father a long time before they would even admit to **liking** one another."

Eliah shrugged. "Sometimes it happens that way. Sometimes it happens at first sight. I think I knew that day we landed here, and I saw her standing there, shyly watching us."

"She seems like a sweet girl," Kalil admitted.

"Hey, Dad, do you think we'll find brides among the Azules?" sixteen-year old Habib asked jokingly. Hakim, a year older, laughed with him.

"It's possible," Kalil replied seriously. "I've found when it comes to falling in love, don't rule out any of the possibilities."

"What were you writing in the sand?" Eliah asked.

"Nothing really," Kalil said. "I was just recalling how missionaries have uncannily found customs in each new people they deal with, customs that make it easier to explain salvation to them."

Eliah kneeled down by him. "Such as?"

"Well, the Jadiza people had a custom of setting the first born child of the year aside and raising him communally. That allowed the missionaries to explain how God's Son was set aside for us. The Loreian people have a custom of covering a repentant offender with blood from their livestock--"

"--Allowing the missionaries to explain how the Son's blood covers our sins," Eliah completed.

"Exactly! Now I figure these particular Azules must have something in their culture..."

"Dad--" Habib began.

"Not now." Kalil's gaze became distant. 

"But Dad--" Hakim tried.

Kalil just muttered to himself.

"I think they may have a suggestion," Eliah pointed out.

"Oh!" Kalil cried apologetically. "Yes, my sons?"

Habib spoke. "I noticed that every Azule here wears a necklace in colors of red and green."

"Yeah, and red and green are the colors we use to celebrate the birth of the Son," Hakim added.

"True," Kalil admitted, shaking a finger. "But there's nothing actually in the Word about red and green. That's just a tradition."

"It still might be used," Eliah argued. "I'll have to ask Zavanra the significance of those colors."

The next day, Eliah met with Zavanra again, and finally managed to convey to her that he was curious about the colors of her necklace. "The red is for blood, the green is for life," she explained in mixed languages.

"Whose blood?" Eliah questioned.

"The blood of a stranger," she continued slowly. "Of a person not yet known to us...But we will find out someday. He will give us life."

At this point, Eliah became silent. Kalil was right. God had given all people a taste of His glory.

Then he took the girl's hands in his. "Zavanra, that person has already come. He is known to me, as well as to Kalil and his sons, and many others."

"He has come?" she asked excitedly. "Is He with you here now?"

Eliah frowned thoughtfully. "He is, but not in a body. Although He once was a human, like you or me." How could he communicate these concepts to her?

"He is a katara," Zavanra guessed, squinting her eyes. She spread her arms widely. "He is no place, but every place."

"If katara means spirit, you're on the right road." Eliah breathed deeply. "He is a god. **The** god. Not Kiomar."

"He is God, and He is a spirit," Zavanra reiterated.

"Are you insulted by what I said about Kiomar?" Eliah worried.

She smiled. "No. I am relieved."

"Relieved?"

"I thought I was crazy, or a bad girl. I did not really believe that Kiomar was...better. Better than us."

"The real God is above fault."

Zavanra's gaze became distant. "I would walk the forests often, thinking out to God. I wanted to know Him but didn't know what I was searching for. The rocks and the flowers maybe pointed the way; I knew someone great must have designed them. Someone greater than Kiomar." Her eyes flashed back to the present day. "How do we worship Him?" she inquired.

"It starts out very simple. All you do is believe in Him. Believe that only He through His Son can save you from the wrong things you do."

"He has a son?"

"Actually, they're one and the same. I'll get more into that later on."

She chuckled. "Why is there always so much to learn? You think you have become an expert in one area, then a whole new one shows up for you to learn about."

Eliah gave her a little smirk. He clasped his hands together, as though he had just come to a decision. "So, are you ready? Will you accept God and His Son?"

She smiled; it was a beautiful smile. "Yes, I do. I--"

"What is it?" Eliah asked with concern.

It took her a second to reply. "I felt something come in to me. A katara. I clearly felt something come in to me."

"That's incredible," he remarked. "I think you may have felt the Holy Spirit enter your life."

She giggled. "Still more to learn about."

He put his arm around her shoulder as they walked on. "I am very happy today," he said to her.

"Why is that?"

"We may now be able to be together in ways we couldn't be before."

She didn't know exactly what that meant, but said, "I would like that very much."

IV

CURE

Eliah strolled out of his tent the next morning, happy about seeing Zavanra later that day. A worried looking Kalil scurried past him, brushing against him. Eliah stopped him. "What's the matter?"

"Habib, he came down with a fever sometime last night."

"It's not serious, is it?"

"I don't know," Habib's father answered grimly. "He's broken out in spots all over his face."

"What can we do?"

"I don't know. I just thought you should be informed." Kalil waved him aside. "You go on with whatever you were going to do. Hakim and I will look out for him."

Troubled, Eliah dropped by Habib's tent to say hello. Habib tried to lift his dotted head and smile, but didn't fully succeed. Sweat glistened on his forehead. "I'm sure you'll be okay soon."

There was nothing more he could do. He went ahead with his date with Zavanra, but explained Habib's problem to her. "It sounds like he has a case of what we call mukana. We have a treatment for that."

"Involving Uboro and a stick?"

"No, actually we know the..fix?"

"Solution? Cure?"

"We know the cure for mukana many generations now. It is a certain plant. You make a drink from its leaves."

"That's wonderful!" Eliah cried, clasping her shoulders. "You must show me this plant and we will bring it to Habib. Thank you!"

"Just follow me," she said.

The next evening, Eliah, Kalil, and his two sons visited Zavan Zavanra, and Xalina at their burrow. Uboro was already there.

Kalil glanced around, although he had been here before. He liked the notion of living in burrows, with portable walls made of huge dried leaves and husks dividing the dens. In this burrow, there was the front division to greet guests in, plus two--bedrooms, Kalil decided, for lack of a better term. One was for Zavan and one was for his daughters. There was no front door except for one made of the same material as the walls, and even then, it was not secured on, but the Smoky Waters Azules had placed a thick scattering of nuts in front of their burrows. Those walking near could not help but make a crunching noise announcing their presence.

Eliah gestured at Habib as they drew near the fireside. "He's healthy as a sapling, thanks to you."

"Yeah, thanks," Kalil added fervently.

"What did you do?" Zavan asked his daughter.

"I merely told them the leaves of the didah plant would help, father."

"See," Uboro began, shaking his finger. "You think you can cure all our problems, but then it is you who must come to us for help."

"Yes," Kalil said with innocence. "Both our peoples can learn from each other."

"You think you have more to teach us than we have to teach you," Uboro insisted.

Modestly, Kalil replied, "I wouldn't know about that."

"Forgive Uboro's lack of manners," Zavan told his guests. "Come, eat with us." The chief glared at his mystic.

The four peachskins sat down around the fireside. Eliah grabbed the space next to Zavanra. She smiled at him.

"I wish that you would apologize to our guests," Zavan hinted to Uboro.

Uboro stood up, throwing one of his sticks to the ground. "I will not apologize to the no-people! They are not of the People. They have no wives--"

"--I have a wife," Kalil cut in. "True, she's not here, but I miss her very much. She comes on some of my ocean voyages, but not all of them."

"I am glad to hear you have a wife, but this still doesn't redeem Uboro," Zavan said. "I didn't catch that last little tirade, Uboro," Zavan mentioned, speaking fully in their native tongue. "Perhaps you had better start over."

Uboro glared at Zavan. Zavan stared back. Finally, the mystic sat down and picked up his stick. "I am sorry to the peachskins," he muttered.

"Apology accepted," Kalil replied, with as much cheerfulness as he could muster.

Uboro rolled his eyes at Kalil's perky optimism.

To change the subject, Eliah asked, "Your name is Zavan and your daughter's is Zavanra. Is there some meaning there?"

"Yes, Zavan is...zavan, and..." Zavan explained with difficulty. "Zavan is how we all believe that someday things will be better."

"Zavan means hope," Kalil guessed.

"Yes, hope," Zavanra agreed, having heard Eliah use the word once or twice.

"And Zavan-Ra is daughter of hope," Zavanra's father stated.

"Daughter of hope. I like that," Eliah remarked. "It's very pretty." Zavanra blushed at his words.

When Eliah, Kalil, and sons returned to camp, they found everyone up, waiting for them. "Eliah will decide this once and for all," one settler said.

Grablock sprang to his feet, his fists clenching and unclenching, his face beet red. "Eliah this and Eliah that! He is just a kid, a mere lad! I am the elder of everyone here, including Kalil with his two nearly grown sons."

"Yes, thank you," Kalil said humbly, as though Grablock had been complimenting him on raising his sons to near adulthood.

"What is the issue here?" Eliah wondered.

"On ship, we accepted you as captain, being as you grew up with parents who were sailors, and you knew what you were doing," one man said.

"Even Grablock accepted that," another added.

"Because I know nothing of the sea," Grablock pointed out in earnest. "But I have much experience in living on land."

"Living on the land or living off it?" a settler asked. "You are a nobleman. You know nothing of survival."

"Yes, I am a nobleman. And therefore your superior."

"Let Eliah decide!" came many shouts.

"Let Eliah decide?" Grablock repeated. "Why, he'll choose himself, of course."

"Let us be democratic about this," Eliah said. "You shall vote. For me, Grablock, or someone else. Grablock and I shall stay out of the votes."

"A show of hands?" Kalil wondered.

"Yes, and you keep track of them," Eliah decided. He selected a settler at random. "You and him."

"What, so people don't think to vote for him?" Grablock demanded, referring to Kalil. "At least he has age and acquired knowledge on his side."

"Yes, thank you," Kalil said again. "But individualistic as I may be, I've always been a better follower than a leader."

Grablock watched the vote proceed, but in his heart, he already knew what the results would be. They would choose a mere child, a charismatic and popular child to be sure, but nonetheless, just a child.

V

FLESH AND BLOOD

Kalil was deep in the forest, looking for new plant and animal specimens to document. He saw in the distance Uboro and an assistant. Curiously but quietly, he approached. Some instinct inside him urged him to stay unseen, so he crouched down behind some underbrush.

As Kalil watched on, he saw that there were more than two Azules present. Uboro's companion was cradling a baby. The two adults were standing by a large tree trunk which came up to their waists.

"Oh great Kiomar," Uboro was muttering. "Forgive us for letting the strangers influence our thoughts and our deeds. To show you our sincerity..." At this point, the assistant lay the baby down on the trunk. "...We offer this sacrifice of--"

"NOOO!" Kalil screamed, leaping to his feet.

"--Flesh and blood," Uboro continued, plunging the knife down into the infant's body.

There was nothing Kalil could do. Uboro stared at him, trying to make him feel guilty for interrupting the ceremony. Kalil glared back, tears of rage running down his cheeks.

"It is the will of Kiomar."

"To hell with Kiomar!"

Uboro's assistant made a move towards Kalil, but Uboro held him back. "He will see in time. Let him tell the others that we take the worship of Kiomar seriously."

Kalil was kneeling, his hands grasping and pulling at his hair. "How could you kill a baby? How could you? How could you..." He fell face down on to the dirt, sobbing. He remained that way as Uboro and his assistant dug a grave for the infant and buried him. When they left, Kalil was still there, now sitting up and resting his forehead on his knees.

"He didn’t even know who the baby was," Uboro's assistant remarked in confusion.

"My uncle Kalil is very disturbed," Eliah mentioned to Zavanra while they strolled through the woods. "He's not talking to anybody; he just sits in his tent with his eyes looking far away."

"Oh?"

"His sons found him in the woods late yesterday. He was just sitting there and wouldn't even acknowledge their presence. Finally, they managed to get him to stand up and they led him home."

"How very strange."

"I was hoping you could explain what he might have seen that would cause him to act so."

Zavanra pursed her lips and slowly shook her head. "I do not know."

"Perhaps if Hakim and Habib were to lead us back to the site..."

She shrugged. "Perhaps."

Soon, stopping at the camp, they had rounded up the two boys, but not before Zavanra herself had seen how strange Kalil was behaving. He was now muttering nonsensical things to himself. "Oh, Finail, old friend, where are you now that I need you?" was one of the more discernable things he uttered. "You would know what to do." Quietly, Zavanra, and Eliah, and his sons left him.

Before the four even reached the site, Zavanra recognized where they were heading. She gasped. "Uboro..."

"Yes?" Eliah prodded.

She ran up to the tall tree trunk. "This is where Uboro sometimes performs sacrifices."

"Sacrifices? Of animals?"

"No." Zavanra looked down at the ground, ashamed. "Of children."

"You mean Dad saw some little kid get murdered?" Habib asked.

"How often are these sacrifices performed?" Eliah questioned.

"Not often. Now the Tartia tribe has them all the time. The People of the North, they perform none." She looked up at them pleadingly, afraid of the guilt she suddenly felt. "It is our mystic who decides when the sacrifices are needed to appease Kiomar."

"Zavanra, I thought I told you, the one final sacrifice was already provided in God's Son."

"I know, but I am only a girl. Uboro decides; he will not listen to me. He doesn't like to hear talk of gods other than Kiomar. Uboro only knows what we have been doing for more than years. He thinks he must do it." She wrung her hands. "I do not like what he does. We are not immune because we are the leading family. Many years ago, Uboro decided that Kiomar wanted Migo, my dear little brother, to be offered as a sacrifice. And so he was."

Eliah put his hands on her shoulders. "Within this generation, the curse can be ended. You must tell others what you have learned."

"I have told my father, but I don’t know if he hears or not. And I told you, Uboro doesn't even want to hear of it. His making a sacrifice is probably because of all the talk among us about this other God."

The two brothers and Eliah led Zavanra back to Kalil's tent. She looked at Eliah for confirmation. He nodded. She knelt down in front of Kalil. "Kalil, I know some of our ways must upset you. Be glad to know that sacrifice is not a common thing around here; it is actually very rare. I don’t like it, and I don't think many of my people are happy about it, but it is a very old custom, and one Uboro will be.." She looked at Eliah for vocabulary.

"Reluctant?" he guessed.

"One Uboro will be reluctant to give up. But my people do not hunger for blood. It doesn’t make them happy when a baby or child is taken away...The mothers are often quite upset, you can be sure of that."

Kalil continued staring straight ahead. Zavanra leaned forward, shaking. "Please do not be mad at all of us. It is not our idea."

Kalil still didn't look at her, but muttered softly, "I'm not mad at you."

"Then what is wrong?"

Kalil clenched his fists. "I'm mad at Kiomar. He wasn't even around to accept the sacrifice. I saw a baby die. For no reason."

Eliah put his hand on Zavanra's shoulder. "Come, perhaps Kalil needs to be alone again." Eliah and Zavanra walked away, but Kalil's two sons remained with their father.

As they walked back to her burrow, Zavanra asked, "Are **you** mad at me?"

"No, I--"

"I feel as though I were the one who drove the knife into the baby's heart."

"I think every people has some customs that are bad. But each culture also has its good traits to make this world a better place."

"What are some of our good traits?"

"Well, those burrows you live in are pretty clever. And the smart way you rotate your crops--we're gonna have to suggest that to the farmers back home. Your clothing and jewelry are very beautiful. You're more aware of every plant and animal and how you can benefit from each other...Sometimes, in my land, we're a bit too eager to just mow everything down to put up more buildings. There's not as much strife between you and your neighbors as there is between the countries in the area of the world I come from. It looks like war will soon break out between Terashire and Aldea."

"Are the people of Al-dee-ah like you?"

Eliah arched his eyebrows. "Actually, quite a bit. But that's the..irony of war."

"Irony?"

"Yeah, it's, er, a hard word to define. I'm sure you have a counterpart to it, though." He sighed, casting his eyes on the ground. "We have other shames as well. The people of the Alainian countries--Terashire, Aldea, Fleur, and several others--take the people of the Zehranian continent and force them to work very hard."

"You mean they tame other people, like the People of the North tame snow wolves?"

Eliah nodded grimly.

"That **is** terrible! Have you--?" She looked at him searchingly.

"Neither I or any member of my family has owned a slave. But we cannot change entire societies. I do know one lady, she buys slaves but it's to keep other meaner people from getting them. She treats all of her slaves with dignity and respect."

"God must frown on this slave matter like He must frown on human sacrifice," Zavanra reasoned.

VI

THE CEREMONY OF SACRIFICE

Grablock's fat lips sneered, and he combed his thinning dark hair over his bald spot as though to hide his dark and calculating mind. Heading out of his tent, he walked with a conceited swagger, as though he owned whatever he walked on. Grablock smiled to himself when he realized the Azules themselves could bring about their undoing. And he could also take care of the little problem of that kid Eliah. With that in mind, he headed from the camp to the burrow he knew to be Uboro's. "Mystic, I would speak with you," he called out.

"I would not speak with the no-people!" came the shouted reply. "You think you know everything."

"Don't worry. I too am concerned that our people grow headstrong," Grablock mentioned, speaking loudly into the burrow.

"Come in, come in," Uboro said, a bit eagerly.

"What they need is something to shock them." Grablock took a seat by the fire.

"I think what they need is a sacrifice--"

"Of one of our own?" Grablock pretended to be shocked.

"They must atone for their sins. It may seem harsh, but it will do them good. Better that then to face the wrath of Kiomar."

Grablock rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I see what you mean. Perhaps it is best we confess before our downfall."

"One of the young sons of Kalil will do nicely," Uboro intoned maliciously.

"What if I can get you something better?" Grablock asked, leaning forward. "What if I can get you Eliah Qwess?"

Uboro nearly gasped. "The friend of our chief's daughter?"

"Many of us look to him as a leader. Like his father he is, well-loved by the faithful many. His loss will stun my people back into their proper place." What he did not add was that he could also use Eliah's loss to fuel a rabid frenzy of revenge against the Azules. "But it must not look as if I helped. At this point in time, my people would not understand it and would look upon it as betrayal."

"How will you seize him for me?"

"Actually, that's the beauty of it. It's so simple you don't even need my help. Simply tell him you want to talk to him about his 'one true God', and invite him in. I'm sure you can figure out the rest."

Eliah had just taken a stroll through the forest with Zavanra, and now returned her to her burrow. She shyly took his hand, caressing it lightly. "You will come again tomorrow?" she asked.

"Just try and stop me." He touched her cheek and then she went down into her home.

Eliah turned to walk away. "Eliah Qwess, I would speak to you," Uboro announced.

Eliah felt a warning bell go off in his mind. _I don't trust this guy_ , one part of him said. The other scolded and said, _Now, now, let us not judge others._ "Yes?"

"I wish to speak more of this Savior, this one who takes the place of Kiomar. You will meet with me in my burrow."

"Certainly. Now?"

"Yes, come this way."

Eliah followed Uboro down into his burrow. "Sit down," his host said. Uboro took a moment before joining him. First, he got a drinking vessel from the back of his burrow. He passed it to Eliah as he sat down. "Here, drink."

"What is it?" Eliah wondered, sniffing at it apprehensively.

"Is good. It is the drink of life..."

Not wanting to seem like a rude guest, Eliah took a sip. "Tasty, actually, I didn't think it would be." He felt a slight tingle in his head. "Is this alcoholic?"

"What's that? Al kaw hawl link?"

"Never mind."

"Drink it down," Uboro encouraged. "We of the Smoky Waters tribe drink this with much excitement."

Eliah took another sip. "Don't you want any?"

"It would be rude for me to take a drink," the mystic lied.

"Oh, I see." Eliah took another sip.

"Is good, right?"

"Yes, I--" The settler's head began to spin. He placed a hand to his head. "Pardon me. I got dizzy. Now we were going to speak about--" He didn't get any further before falling sideways onto the dirt.

"It is the drink of life," Uboro repeated solemnly. "And death."

Zavanra waited the next day for Eliah to return, but he didn't. Finally, at least one peachskin did approach, calling her out from her burrow. It was Kalil. "Have you seen Eliah?" he asked her.

"No," she replied, knitting her eyebrows in concern.

"He didn't come back to the camp last night," Eliah's godfather revealed. "He wasn't there this morning."

They stopped talking as Uboro walked by, a drum in his hands. The mystic pretended not to notice them. "It looks as though he's heading for our camp," Kalil observed after Uboro was out of hearing distance.

"That **is** curious," Zavanra said. "Let's see where he is going."

"Okay, but don't get too close," Kalil fretted cautiously. Zavanra smiled at his unnecessary warning.

Once at the Terashirans' camp, Uboro banged continuously on the drum. He spoke mostly in his native tongue, which fortunately a few settlers now knew well enough to translate for their companions. "No-people, listen to me. Listen to what I say to you." From behind a tree, Kalil and Zavanra leaned in closer, and at the camp, some men looked up curiously, some annoyed at the interruption. "You have defiled all that we the People hold sacred. You must atone for this. When the sun is at its highest, attend a ceremony in the communal clearing, and all will be made right."

Grablock was listening with the others; however, he did not make eye contact with Uboro. _The poor sap_ , he thought. _He actually thinks the sacrifice will make the settlers repentant, when it will only serve to make them angry and vengeful._

"What’s this about a ceremony?" Kalil asked Zavanra after Uboro had left.

"I know as much as you," she replied with a shrug.

"Well, whatever it is, I have a feeling Eliah's disappearance has something to do with it."

"We will find out. It is almost time now to go to the communal clearing."

Not all the settlers felt impelled to intend, but a good number of them showed up, including Grablock, who looked as though he were hiding behind one of the balding trees. Zavanra, still keeping company with Kalil, and now Hakim and Habib also, noticed a few Azules as well, among them her father.

Uboro's assistant, Xixla, had already assembled the three stone pieces of the sacred sacrificial altar together. Uboro stood behind it now. On it lay a still figure shrouded by blankets.

Kalil shot a worried look at Zavanra. "Not another sacrifice?"

Zavanra nodded. She had a bad feeling. Her body tensed as she poised herself for action.

Uboro's message was short, for once. "No-people, prepare to sacrifice one of your own to Kiomar!"

He tore off the blankets.

Eliah was underneath.

Uboro raised his knife.

Zavanra was there in an instant, throwing her body over Eliah's.

Confused, Uboro froze the blade in its descent. 

Grablock, puzzled by Zavanra's actions, forgot to yell out his accusations that the Azules would kill the settlers' leader.

Then, a decisive light shining in his eyes, Uboro grasped the weapon anew.

"Uboro, stop!" Zavan commanded. "That is my daughter."

"She is obviously willing to sacrifice herself," Uboro replied.

"You will not sacrifice her."

Uboro's tone was scolding. "There once was a time when you obeyed first the will of Kiomar and let your only son be sacrificed to him."

"But Zavanra has told me of a new God, who let **His** only son be slain as a sacrifice to end all sacrifices." As he said this, Zavan walked forward to the altar.

"Oh father, then you **do** believe!" Zavanra cried happily, not leaving her defensive position over Eliah.

"The Azules would sacrifice your beloved leader!" Grablock exclaimed at last.

His thunder was stolen. "There will be no more sacrifices," Zavan stated. "I am tired of seeing the blood of babies and virgins spilt. Our children will no longer live in fear; our parents no longer live in sorrow."

One more time, Uboro raised the blade. Zavan grasped his wrist, struggling for control of the weapon. It finally fell uselessly upon the dirt.

At this point, Eliah's eyes opened. He saw and felt Zavanra. He realized Uboro had drugged him, and he was able to piece together why.

"Enough!" Uboro shouted. "I will stop this sacrifice, as you so ignorantly wish. But I wash my hands of this whole tribe! From now on, I shall live as a hermit. Kiomar will spare my life, but will he spare yours?" With that, Uboro walked off into the woods.

Zavanra was still leaning close to Eliah, as though she thought Uboro would return. He could hear her heartbeat. And he could feel his own frightened heart pulse as well. Despite the danger they had been in, Eliah smiled to himself when he realized their hearts were beating in time. He knew they were destined for each other.

Finally, Zavan cleared his throat, and Zavanra absent-mindedly cried, "Oh!" She removed herself from Eliah's chest. "How are you?" she asked the intended sacrifice.

"Fine, now that you're here," he replied.

"I will call a meeting," Zavan said. "The tribe must know of these changes in our way of life." He gazed at both Eliah and Kalil. "I expect both of you to be here."

"Consider it done," Kalil said happily. He looked for Hakim and Habib. They were in front of Grablock, each grabbing an arm. "What are you doing?"

"I think Grablock was a bit too happy about them sacrificing Eliah!" Hakim accused.

"And I think maybe he had a hand in it!" Habib added.

"Get your kids away from me; I don't know what they're talking about."

"Unless you have evidence, I think you had better let him go," Kalil said reluctantly.

"Our evidence just walked off," Hakim pointed out, referring to Uboro.

"We can still catch him!" Habib cried.

"He'll never talk to you; you are the no-people," Grablock stated.

Uboro's ex-assistant walked by, pointing a shaking finger at Grablock. "It is true, what you say. I heard Uboro say this man Grablock helped him decide who the sacrifice would be."

At this, Grablock shook the two lads off of his arms and ran off. Hakim and Habib were too fast for him; however, and Habib tripped him. They dragged him back to their father. Eliah, supported by Zavanra, stumbled up to the scene. "We will form a jury of the other settlers," Eliah decided. "And they will choose your punishment."

VII

LONGING

At the meeting Zavan had called, held in the communal clearing, Eliah and Zavanra sat near the front, holding hands. Zavan spoke again of his change to the new way of life. Though Kalil suspected he had changed religions merely for the sake of his daughter, he was still glad that the chief seemed open to the Gospel. Zavan also apologized for the behavior of Uboro.

Zavan then invited Kalil to address the people. "Of course, we accept your apology about Uboro," Kalil began. "We also must apologize for Grablock. From what we've been able to gather before coming to this meeting, he thought using Uboro could stir up bad feelings between us and you. I don't quite understand what he hoped to gain by doing so, but it has something to do with his feeling of power and his feeling like he's better than other people. I just hope we can all be on guard against other men like Uboro and Grablock.

"Listen," Kalil entreated. "I took into consideration Uboro's concerns about us not respecting your culture. But I am not asking you to take on our clothing, our music, our way of providing shelter. You know as well as we do in matters like that. In fact, your burrows are quite ingenious. What I am telling you has nothing to do with me thinking our people are better than yours. What I am telling you did not even begin with my people, either the people I originated from or the people I now dwell among. It started in a small but troubled section of the world. It was there that the Savior was born.

"He came, and the Good News spread from nation to nation, from people to people. That is all I am trying to do here is spread good news even further. News that you no longer have to sacrifice your children to some distant and angry god, when the true and merciful God has sent a sacrifice for you."

Zavan stood up and approached Kalil. He spoke to his people again, this time completely in their language. Kalil knew he must be explaining the harder parts of the message he had just spoken, since not every Azule was yet fluent in Terashiran. Then Zavan addressed everyone. "As my daughter did, I will accept this one true God. I urge all of my people to do the same."

After the meeting, everybody talked and ate. Zavanra stood next to Eliah, wanting people to see her with him, wanting them to know how she felt. While he was talking with her friends and relations, Eliah suddenly put his hand to his forehead and used his other hand to support himself with the help of a tree.

"What is it?" Zavanra wondered worriedly.

"It's that happy juice Uboro gave me," Eliah said, after taking a moment to recover. "It's not the first time this has happened today. Tell me, how long does this stuff last?"

"I don't know. Everyone who drinks it is sacrificed before it wears off."

Kalil sauntered over. "You know what you need? A voyage out to sea. That's what your father always used to suggest to me."

"That reminds me--!" Eliah began. He drew Zavanra aside. "Let's go for a walk a little ways." They strolled out of the communal clearing and down a forest path which was strewn with fallen leaves. "You know how we got here, how we arrived on the ship?"

Zavanra nodded. "Yes, I remember."

"Well, soon that ship is to make a journey back to the place it came."

Her eyes widened. "You are all going?"

"No, not all of us. Kalil's letting Hakim and Habib stay here. Big responsibility for them, now that they're almost grown. Grablock will be going, of course. We're 'deporting' him. A number of us are also going and I must go."

Zavanra walked backwards in front of him. "No, you can't

go--!"

"I didn't say I wouldn't come back. But I have business over there. Now that my twenty-first birthday is coming up, I have to sign papers making me the co-owner with my mother in our family's shipping business. If I don't, she could lose everything. You see, my mom’s a perfectly capable woman, but women over there aren’t given as much respect as they are over here."

Zavanra just looked confused.

"Well, I guess what I have to tell you is I'm going. But not for always. Maybe a few months."

"Let me come with you!"

"I'm afraid--" Eliah stopped, reconsidering. "Wait, maybe you can come. Is there anyone you would need to ask first? Your father, maybe?"

"Yes, I will ask him."

"No, my daughter, you cannot go."

"But father--!"

"You are the only child left to me and I have been lenient with you in many respects. But on this I must be firm. You are too young to be taking off for the unknown country."

"But Eliah will be there to look out for me."

"Yes, but he might do more looking **at** you than looking out for you. Don't think that nobody can tell what is going on between you two. You are a young, unmarried girl and I will not have you getting into trouble."

"But what do I do then?" Zavanra asked sadly, her lips pouty.

"Did not Eliah himself say he would be back? Wait patiently. It will give you time to sort out your true feelings for him. I cannot say I like the idea of a peachskin man and an Azule girl together, especially my daughter, but by the time he comes back, you will have undergone your adult initiation and I will no longer have say over you as father to daughter, only as chief to subject."

Zavanra was realizing she could not win this argument. She knelt on the floor of their burrow, fighting hard to keep from crying.

Her father sighed, then put a hand on her shoulder. "It is not forever," he encouraged.

Eliah was by the seashore when Zavanra found him the next day. He was looking out to sea and the ship anchored near by. Hearing her footsteps, he glanced around. She walked with her eyes cast downward, and her hands behind her back. "Your father said no, I gather."

"I am not old enough to refuse him."

"Then don't. Be a good girl."

"You must go?" Zavanra asked once again, resignedly.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Eliah replied sadly. "But I have every intention of coming right back."

"Maybe someday it will not be like this."

They were silent for a moment.

"By the way," Eliah began finally. "How do I thank you...for saving my life?" he wondered, taking her by the hands.

She blushed. "You already thanked me."

"I don't feel like I fully did."

She thought for a second, then smiled slyly. "I once promised you could kiss me. You may do so now."

Eliah again felt his heart beat fast. Modestly, he kissed her on the forehead.

She smiled patiently. "No, not there!"

"Oh! I..uh..." Unsure how to proceed, he cupped her face with his hands. Trembling, he reached for her lips. The touch was tentative at first, but before either of them knew it, they were locked in a tight embrace, and their first mutual kiss was followed by a dozen more.

They realized that other people had arrived, and stopped to catch up on their breathing. Kalil, his sons, and some other crew members were around. Kalil was sitting on a crate, smirking. "Eliah, you're just like your father," he remarked. "A thunderstorm right on top of them could never disturb him and O'felia when they got going."

VIII

RITE OF ADULTHOOD

Zavanra watched the ship leave, watched it until it became just a speck on the horizon, watched the sea itself after the ship disappeared. Cold wind blew all around her. Finally, she sighed, and turned around for home.

Catching the sun shine through the leaves out of the corner of her eye, she mistook it for Eliah's hair. A quick turn of her head dispelled her fantasies.

The settlers and the Azules had agreed to a joint supper this evening. Sometimes the way a certain settler laughed or shook his head reminded Zavanra of Eliah. She sighed a few times. She stared down at her food and barely nibbled at it.

Habib waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey! Cheer up. My dad'll be back and so won't Eliah. Trust me."

Zavanra smiled weakly. "I hope all the waiting doesn't go as slowly as this."

Later, Zavanra retired to her room in her burrow and Xalina. 

"Why do I feel this way?" Zavanra asked her stepsister.

"What way?" her confidante replied, lying on the ground and flicking pebbles with her fingers.

"Before I met Eliah, I was happy enough," Zavanra explained, pacing. "There was a certain longing there, though, that he helped fill. But how is it that someone who brings so much happiness to your life can bring you sadness just by not being there?”

"I can't say I know what you mean," Xalina admitted. "Though I certainly hope some day I will."

"You mean you want to feel lonely?"

"No, I mean love someone the way you and Eliah love each other." 

Back in Terashire, mother and child greeted each other. “You’ve changed, my son,” O’felia observed.

“How so?”

“You have a certain glow. Tell me, did you colonize further south than planned? Such as in the tropics?”

Eliah shook his head. “No, Mother, it’s not my tan.”

“You¼haven’t¼slept with a girl, have you?” she asked worriedly. “Because you know abstinence is not for females only.”

“But—”

“Your own father was a virgin when he married me.”

“I have committed no acts of fornication,” he stated firmly.

She smiled. “Good. That would break my heart.” Her eyes widened in realization. “You’re—you’re in love!”

“This accusation I won’t deny.”

“Well, tell me all about her.”

“She is native to the New World, Mother. I hope it will not bother you that her skin is of a different color than mine.”

“Skin color makes no difference to me. But what of her religion?”

“She has accepted the Savior into her heart.”

“Well, then, I am happy for you, and hope that fate brings me and her together someday.”

The long weeks passed. Zavanra spent some of her time with Hakim and Habib, fine-tuning her handle on the Terashiran language. She asked a lot of questions on customs and culture, too. Sometimes she got really personal and asked them what it was like growing up with Eliah.

The lonely monotony was broken by the rite of adult initiation. She, Xalina, another girl named Julita, and a boy named Randali were the honorees. In the communal clearing, they stood before the rest of the tribe. Zavanra smiled when she also saw Hakim and Habib in the crowd. She wished Eliah were here, though, to see her in her beautiful black-dyed dress decorated with colorful quills, and to see her with all the colorful feathers in her hair. She knew she was pretty. Besides, she felt he should be present at the important events of her life.

"You have known these four as children," Zavan spoke. "But from now on they will be known to you as adults."

As he spoke, his daughter continued scanning the faces in the crowd. She gasped. She saw her wandering, free-spirited mother, Rudaleda, a woman who chose to live life on her own, away from tribe and family. Rudaleda just casually winked at her. Zavanra wanted to be kind and forgiving, but could only manage a half smile in return.

Uboro's ex-assistant, Xixla, came and poured a greenish water over the four young people's heads.

"Each of you shall now speak," Zavan prompted them. "Randali?"

Randali stepped forward, clearing his throat. "I wish to be a brave hunter and to father many children."

"Julita?"

"I wish to mother Randali's many children," she said with a blush.

"Xalina?"

"I wish to find a good husband, and to be a good wife to him."

"Zavanra?"

The chief's daughter stepped forward. "I wish, that whenever two different peoples meet and I am there, that I will promote the cause of peace between and within them."

Zavanra's life goals, which ran outside the scope of merely becoming a spouse and a parent caused a slight stir in the audience, but as Zavanra was the chief's daughter, they did not question her out loud. Inside, Zavanra did have hopes to be a wife and mother. But that was with someone not of her race. She did not want to stir up too much trouble at what was supposed to be a dignified ceremony.

 _Yes, Eliah,_ she thought to herself. _Someday you will return to me, and then we will show everyone just how well two people of different races can get along._


	2. Part Two: Sweet Affirmation

PART TWO: SWEET AFFIRMATION

IX: THE DARING STEP

Zavanra's mother, Rudaleda, had disappeared yet again the day after the ceremony. Zavanra shrugged it off and went back to her studies with Hakim and Habib. They were teaching her something novel, not just how to speak, but how to read the written word. With them, Zavanra started putting down her native language in writing for all to see.

When it was winter solstice for the Azules, Hakim and Habib taught her about Redemption Day, when the Savior’s birth was celebrated. As she opened the gifts they gave her, she said with a sigh, “This is my first Redemption Day without Eliah.”

“This is your first Redemption Day ever,” Habib corrected mischievously.

“I think it will be fun to celebrate with Eliah,” she insisted. “Next year.”

Zavanra liked Redemption Day, though. Upon receiving gifts from Kalil’s two sons, she immediately made them gifts, and made presents for her father and Xalina as well.

When Zavanra was not studying or transcribing her native langauge, she was usually gazing longingly out to sea. At last, when winter was in its death throes, came a day when she saw a speck on the horizon. Eventually, the speck came close enough so that she could confirm it was what she thought it was. A ship.

She ran back to the burrows, notifying her father and Xalina. Then she raced over to the settlers' camp.

The ship drew near.

Both settlers and Azules were lined up to greet the ship's passengers as they made it to dry land. Most of the men Zavanra did not recognize. New settlers, she guessed. She also got her first look at the female of the species, who wore modest dresses and often wore their hair pinned up on top of their head.

Finally, Zavanra spotted someone she did know, Kalil. Kalil's eyes lit up when he saw her, but she could tell by his troubled manner that he would have bad news for her. By his side was a plump woman with dark brown hair, wearing a dress that reached down to her ankles, unlike the short leather Azule dresses. Behind the two were a couple of dark-haired boys, much like Hakim and Habib, but a few years younger. Zavanra ran up to them. "Ah, Zavanra," Kalil greeted. "I'd like to introduce my wife, Orendi, and our other two sons, Haresh and Hamal." He looked very proud of his family, and Zavanra greeted each one politely. Then she looked back at Kalil for answers. She did not need to voice the question.

"Eliah's mother is sick," he explained. "He was heartbroken he couldn't come, but he couldn't just leave her side. He hopes everything will be cleared up when its time for the next voyage here."

She stood shock still for a moment. Finally, she mumbled, "But he will be here?"

Kalil nodded, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Someday. Eliah is a man of his word, like his father before him."

A burly, red-faced man walked up behind Kalil and his family. He slapped Kalil on the back, nearly knocking the smaller man over. "Is this the girl?" he asked.

"Owww! Yes!" Kalil replied. "That's Zavanra."

Zavanra was startled when the large man grabbed her by the arms, and wheeled her around in the air. "Ah ha! This is the beauty my brother's son raves about."

"Never mind him," Kalil told Zavanra when her feet again touched the ground. "He's got a supernatural enthusiasm for life."

"Enthusiasm?" She absorbed the word, having already gotten the gist of its meaning.

"Oh, by the way, this is Dorios," Kalil introduced. "Dorios, this is Zavanra, of course," he added unnecessarily.

Dorios acted as though he had forgotten he had already had contact with her. He shook her hand enthusiastically. "A pleasure, miss."

She smiled, widely and sincerely. "I think my life would have been incomplete without meeting you," she joked.

"Well, I won't be staying but a couple o’days," Dorios told her, as they walked away from the boat, Kalil's family trailing behind them. "The Ring of Truth's basically here to drop off settlers. But I'm one of the crew for now, so I'll be sailing off shortly."

"That is interesting," Zavanra said. "Because the ship before stayed so long."

They stopped, spotting Hakim and Habib. Orendi ran ahead of them, sobbing, her arms outstretched. "My sons! My sons! How are you doing?"

"Er, fine, mother," the nearly suffocating Hakim replied.

When the embraces were over, Kalil ushered them to the settlers’ camp. They would build a new home there. Zavanra followed, looking on curiously.

"I will miss Debrin," Orendi said, her head bowed. "I confess I felt bad about leaving there." While she was talking, Kalil stood silently in front of her, caressing her hands. Orendi perked up. "But I left the island on which I was born and raised to go to Debrin, and I got used to that."

"You will love it here," Kalil encouraged. "It's a new world with new opportunities, and I sincerely believe it's for the best."

She smiled tentatively. He kissed her on the forehead.

Xalina and Zavanra were bathing in the river. "The name of the ship is the Ring of Truth," Zavanra recounted. "It will leave shortly."

"What are you getting at?" Xalina asked worriedly, although she already had an idea.

"I must be on that ship. It will go to Terashire, where Eliah lives. Who knows when the next ship from Terashire will leave from there to come to here, and if Eliah will be able to make it on the ship?"

"Your father won’t approve."

"I’m an official adult now."

"You should still tell him."

"I’m afraid he will try and stop me. That the others, both our people and Eliah's people, might try and stop me. I’ll sneak on to the ship. After it has left and is out of sight, you must tell my father, so that he won’t worry."

"I will tell him, but believe me, that won't keep him from worrying."

When the day came for the ship to leave, Zavanra hung around on shore for awhile, casually chatting with Dorios and some of his mates. Then she excused herself, saying, "I must go now. I’m going into the woods to seek solitude."

"Okay," Dorios said, cocking a curious eyebrow. "You go on, sweetie."

Sometime later, Xalina walked up, helping to carry an elaborately carved and wooden chest that Shodish, Hakim, and Habib were also holding up. A handsome young man with a brown ponytail strolled up to where the quartet and Dorios' gang were.

"The Smoky Waters people wish to give their best wishes to you by presenting you with this gift," Xalina announced. "But our culture dictates it must not be opened until you have begun your voyage."

"Oh, how nice," the young man said.

"Thank you," Dorios said. "Oh, Xalina, I don't believe you've met our captain, Ralf Gheenquest."

"How do you do?" Captain Gheenquest greeted, kissing her hand.

"Do what?" Xalina wondered, then remembered the meaning of the phrase. "Oh, I’m fine. And you?"

"I am blessed and unworthy to receive the bountiful life I currently lead."

Xalina wrinkled her nose in confusion. "Yes, well, I'm glad for you," she said finally.

"We'll take it from here," Dorios said, motioning for some of his comrades to help him lift the box. "What's in this thing anyway?"

"It must be kept quiet until you’re on your way," Xalina stressed again. She bowed her head slightly, then walked off, her three male companions following.

"What **is** in that box?" Habib wondered.

"Yeah, you said you'd tell us!" Hakim pointed out.

"I will tell you when it is time. When it is time for them to find out, I’ll tell you and let you find out." In her heart, Xalina said a prayer for her hidden friend.

X: A SECOND LOVE?

The ship left in the afternoon. The rocking of the ship was not something Zavanra was accustomed to, and being stuck in a cramped position only made it worse. How does Eliah stand so much of this? she wondered. I hope he wants to settle down to a life on land. She thought about getting out, then decided it would be best to wait until someone opened the chest. That way she would know they were past the point of no return; they would not turn the ship around and deposit her back on shore to a waiting and angry father.

The waves continued to rock the ship. Zavanra was irritable now. She feared her time of waiting would never end. She swallowed back what could have been vomit. That did it! She had to get out of this box!

Cautiously stepping out, she found herself in a dim room. Other containers were piled all around. She was in a storage place, she surmised. No one was in the room with her. She could not see the sea from where she was.

She opened a creaking door. She saw two men seated at a table. One had a knife and was carving something into the surface. She hesitated about announcing herself to them, but they looked up, making that the least of her worries.

"Well, lookee what we have here," the man with the knife drawled. "A blue girl."

"Who in her savage ignorance boarded our ship," the other man added.

"I wish to see Dorios," Zavanra spoke up, trembling.

"Let's not be in a hurry," the first man said, getting up.

Zavanra looked for the door. She was ready to bolt for it, but the second man grabbed her and threw her against the wall. "I said, let's not be in a hurry," the first man told her, running the wide end of the knife down her neck.

Zavanra's heart beat so fast she thought blood would run from her ears. She had heard of men like these, when she was taught the facts of life. They were men who would steal favors from a woman, and give her nothing but grief in return.

She had but one chance, and that was the sense of bravery and honor among anyone who could hear her scream.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that," the first man advised. "You're just a stowaway."

"What's going on here?" someone demanded indignantly.

The two men straightened up. "Captain Gheenquest!" 

Quickly, Zavanra ran behind the newcomer.

"She is a stowaway, sir," the second man explained. 

"I say we throw her overboard!" the first man exclaimed.

"Raczul, the Terashiran custom of throwing a stowaway overboard only applies when land is within swimming distance," the captain replied. He called for some of his other crewmembers. "Take these two miscreants to the brig."

When the two scoundrels had been led away, Captain Gheenquest turned to Zavanra, taking her by the hand. "Thank you," she said. "I fear those men might have..done something terrible to me."

"I need to start screening my crew better. What are you doing here?"

"I have come on the ship so that I may meet again with Eliah Qwess. I did’nt know it wasn’t allowed. I mean, I knew my father would disapprove, but not you."

"Yes, well, you are not from a seafaring people. How could you have known? But you must be Zavanra."

"Yes. I know Dorios."

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "An honor to meet you, Zavanra. I've heard so much about you. And Dorios is a good person to know. Come, I will find you quarters and you can freshen up."

"I can sleep in that storage area," Zavanra said, pointing back.

The captain shook his head. "No no no. There's no need of that." He turned for the door, gesturing for her to walk on ahead. She took a step and her knees buckled. Gheenquest caught her before she fell. "Steady there."

"I don't know what came over me," Zavanra explained with embarrassment.

"You've just had a rough experience," the captain assured her. "Don’t worry about these things."

In the end, she ended up sharing a small cabin with Dorios. That nice Captain Gheenquest feared his men might be tempted by the only woman aboard, thus he assigned Dorios in a sort of security detail.

One night, as they were about to settle down to sleep, Zavanra remarked, "Captain Gheenquest is a really nice man."

"He's an outstanding young lad all right," Dorios joined in.

"Dorios, I wish to be with Eliah as soon as possible," she said hurriedly. "To be with him, to love him..."

"Yes, I know," he said with a chuckle. "You've only told me a hundred times."

On her bed, she propped her head up with one arm. "But I am confused. I want to be Eliah's only woman, and for him to be my only man."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. But the feelings I feel for Eliah, I thought they were feelings I would always feel for him and him alone."

"I have an idea where this might be going..."

"But when Captain Gheenquest saved me from those two men, I felt...feelings like those. I was blushing and my heart was beating fast, and I thought he was very handsome."

"A lot of girls' hearts go all a-flutter around Captain Gheenquest," Dorios informed her. "He has that effect on women."

"I had a dream this morning, that Eliah was dead, or so I thought he was, and I got too involved with Captain Gheenquest, past the point of no return, and I never got to give Eliah the love I felt for him, that I felt for him more than I ever felt for any man. I had to give...what I was saving for marriage to someone second best."

"Well, see, you still loved Eliah best."

"But am I wrong to feel this way? Will I hurt Eliah?"

Dorios sighed, and wrapped his arms around his knee. "All I think is that you just learned an important lesson in life. Love is more than just giddy feelings. It's about commitment, about staying true even when you get used to your feelings for one person, and start getting giddy for someone else. Let me tell you something. Back home, there's a girl called Rianna. She's now married to O'felia's brother Bluddwinn. The leader in the country my brother and I originally come from wanted to give her as a bride to Finail. But Finail was in love with O'felia, and he refused. But Finail would one day confess to me that it actually was possible he and Rianna could have been happy together. He described her as 'alluring and appealing'. And dear old Kalil, he told me he thinks he and Rianna actually _were_ lovers in another life. But of course he won't be untrue to Orendi. Orendi and he go through phases where they seem more like casual friends, but they obviously have their passionate times as well, as witnessed by their four sons."

Zavanra smiled. "And what about you? Are you crazy about Rianna, too?"

Dorios' ruddy face turned redder. "Every man loves Rianna. She's just that kind of a woman. People say it's because she was groomed as a harem girl to be pleasing to a man in every way, but I tell ya, when Bluddwinn drew out her individual spark, she became even more endearing."

"I will remain true to Eliah," Zavanra vowed. "Captain Gheenquest cannot make me marry him instead."

"He's not that kind of a man anyway," remarked Dorios. "You poor child. Did you have no one to tell you these things about life and love?" 

"My mother, Rudaleda, might of," Zavanra said. "But she goes away for long periods of time, never telling anyone. She is searching for something but I don't think even she knows what that something is. But I was taught some things along with the other girls in my tribe when we reached a certain age."

Dorios lay down. "Well, good night, Zavanra. Dream tonight about how good it will be to see Eliah again." Before drifting off to sleep, he shook his head. Zavanra was a sweet innocent; she had nothing to worry about.

XI: NEW CUSTOMS

As the days passed, Zavanra grew more and more accustomed to the roll of the sea. She learned that when she did feel seasick, it was best to walk around on deck, rather than hide away in her cabin. Dorios accompanied her wherever she went when she was first put under his protection, but after some time, it became apparent that no one had any desire to hurt Zavanra, not including the two creeps who had first discovered her, but they were now safely locked in the brig. In fact, most of the crew were quite glad to have a bit of feminine beauty aboard; all other females had gotten off to settle the New World colony.

When a lookout sighted land, Zavanra stayed on deck and watched the land mass grow closer and closer. Soon, she saw the ramshackle strings of buildings lining the harbour town. She wrinkled her nose, perplexed. "What are those?"

"Houses," Dorios replied. "Businesses. We have no burrows here. Everything's built above ground."

Zavanra gazed at a three-story building. "Won't they fall down?"

Dorios shrugged. "It's possible. Didn't Hakim and Habib show you any pictures?"

"Yes, but mostly of..." She searched for the words. "Castles and cathedrals."

"People are used to living like this," Dorios told her. "If they were confronted with one of your burrows, they might be afraid of it caving in."

Zavanra laughed. "I suppose."

Zavanra stayed on deck, watching the docking procedures. Finally, Captain Gheenquest and Dorios escorted her down from the ship and onto a wooden dock. She gazed up at the gulls flying noisily above; they were not too different from the gulls back home. "Hi gulls," she greeted, as though glad to see a familiar face.

"We'll need to dress you up for the countryside," Gheenquest said matter-of-factly. "Come. I know a shop--"

"What?" Zavanra wondered.

Dorios smiled. "Captain Gheenquest is treating you to a shopping spree. We're going to make you look like a real Terashiran lady."

Zavanra looked troubled. "Will Eliah recognize me?"

Dorios chuckled. "I'm sure he will, Zavanra, I'm sure he will. Besides, if you dress the part, even with your different colored skin, less people should present any problem to you."

"Are they not nice to strangers here?" she asked, walking behind them.

"It depends who you talk to," Dorios replied vaguely.

They took her to a dress shop. The tailor was unnerved at first by the unusual color of Zavanra's skin, but soon got used to it. "But if he makes the dress by hand starting now, it might take to long," Zavanra argued. "I want to get to Eliah soon."

"Very well, we'll get one off the rack," Gheenquest decided.

They dressed her up in lilac and lace. Then they took her to get her hair done up in Terashiran style bun, and topped it off with a purple hat.

When Dorios made arrangements for the trip to Debrin, Captain Gheenquest realized they must part ways. "But I wish you every pleasantry there is," he said to Zavanra. "May your life be filled with much happiness." He kissed her hand.

Blushing as she did so, Zavanra gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Captain Gheenquest. You have been a very sweet captain to me."

"I'm beginning to like this country better," Zavanra remarked to Dorios as she gazed out the unicorn-driven cab window. "I didn't like when we first came, and there were all those boxes piled on top of each other, and people spilling out of them, and everywhere, they rush, rush, rush."

"That's the city for you," Dorios replied. "But Terashire's not all city. There's still lots of country left. As a matter of fact, it seems to be the dream of every Terashiran man to one day retire to the country," Dorios related.

"Ooohhh!" Zavanra cried out, pointing at a barebacked man whose skin gleamed in the sun.

"That's a Silver slave," Dorios explained grimly. "Their life is a sad, hard lot."

Zavanra nodded understandingly. "Yes, I remember. Eliah told me about them, how he was sorry the peachskins enslaved the Silvers."

The cab had stopped momentarily. Zavanra saw the Silver pause from his labor in the field and wipe sweat from his forehead. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I wish there were. But slavery is such an ingrained custom. The best we can do is refuse to engage in the slave trade ourselves."

"How about for that man?" she wondered, pointing again.

Dorios picked up a wine cask. "Let him sip from this vintage bottle."

Zavanra took the cask from him. "I am stepping out!" she called to the driver. "Don’t leave without me!" she added rather unnecessarily.

The Silver stared at her as she ran towards him. "Wine," she explained breathlessly.

He stared at her searchingly.

"To drink," she explained, wondering if he did not speak Terashiran. She motioned towards her mouth. "To drink."

The man nodded. Suddenly he seized the bottle from her, and drank the wine as if it were life-saving water.

Finally, he handed it back to her. He paused thoughtfully before acknowledging her gift. "Thank you." There was another moment of silence. He pointed to her hand. "Blue skin. I have never seen or heard of it. Where are you from?"

"From the New World."

That seemed to answer everything for him. As a parting thought, he advised her, "Be careful the peachskins do not make slaves of your people as well."

Zavanra left that encounter with the pleasant sensation of having extended a hand of kindness, yet she also felt disturbed.

XII: WHIRLWIND REUNION

Eliah leaned back in his chair. Seeing his mother up and about, and now heartily enjoying a bowl of stew, he felt more relaxed than he had in days. He even felt an odd sense of excitement in his heart, but the source of it he could not place. It had more to do than just with his mother's better health.

O'felia Mahawk-Qwess was gazing out the inland window as she dined. She sat up suddenly. "Shu-Shu just leaped to his feet. There must be someone coming...Uncle Dorios is coming," she announced. "But who's that with him?"

"What's that, mother?"

"A girl from the new land," O'felia remarked, curiosity dripping from her voice.

Eliah went to the window. To him, there was familiarity about the girl, who was a bit taken aback by Shu-Shu's enthusiastic greeting, but this was not the context he expected to find her in. Yet despite the modest Terashiran dress, and the hair worn up in a bun and topped by a hat, he could not deny who it was. Not that he wanted to. But it was all too good to be true...

He bolted out the door and ran to meet her. "Zavanra!"

She glanced up. "Eliah! At last!" 

As they met in an embrace, he swept her off of the ground. By the time their flurry of kisses was over, her hat had been knocked to the ground and her hair was coming loose. She looked more like he had known her.

"Hey, kid," Dorios added, clapping Eliah on the shoulder.

The son of Finail Qwess blushed. "Oh, hello, Uncle Dorios...I, uh, almost forgot about you, what with Zavanra being here and all." He turned back to her. "How did you get--?" he began.

"Long story," she answered, between the deep swallows of air that allowed her to catch her breath. "Where have **you** been?"

"Not as long a story." He slid an arm around her waist as he led her towards his front door. "My mother, whom you're about to meet, has been quite ill, and I couldn't leave her side."

"So it **is** another woman keeping us apart," Zavanra joked.

"Recently, her health has been improving. I might finally be able to return to your land." They stopped at the door, his hand on the knob.

"I was waiting for you to return," Zavanra explained earnestly. "You didn't come, and you still didn't come. Then I got an opportunity to board a ship coming back here."

"I would have come," Eliah said, apology in his voice.

"I know. Your delay is for moral reason." She glanced at the door. "Well, let me see your good mother."

They walked inside, Dorios following. "Mother," Eliah began awkwardly. "This is--"

"This must be Zavanra," O'felia interrupted. 

"Why, yes," Eliah answered, astounded. "How did you--?"

His mother shrugged. "Now who else could it be?"

"So you've heard of me," Zavanra said, coming forward to grasp O'felia's hand. Zavanra could tell from the spark in O'felia's eyes that Eliah's adventurous qualities weren't solely inherited from his father.

"No woman has ever captured me son's heart before," the older lady replied. "I've been hoping to meet such a remarkable person." She turned to the other guests. "Dorios!" she greeted warmly, hugging the big man.

Shu-Shu, who had followed them aside, again leaped on Zavanra's legs. "Zavanra," Eliah began grandly. "Meet Creation's finest invention, the dog. No other animal compares to it in its loving relationship with man."

Zavanra giggled, tentatively stroking Shu-Shu's head. "They are like forest wolves, but friendlier."

"We really must bring some dogs to the New World. They're even more important than unicorns."

So the four talked avidly, and since O'felia wasn't a good cook in addition to her not being well, Dorios whipped them up a hearty stew for lunch.

XIII: A SNAG IN THEIR PLANS

O'felia let Zavanra stay in her bed that night. The next morning, Zavanra followed Eliah on a morning stroll around the cozy village of Debrin. The houses were half-timbered or stone; the grass was green; cows with a faint touch of purple were grazing. Zavanra stopped for a second to look at them, then ran up to Eliah, clasping his hand. "Eliah?"

Sounds like she's got something serious on her mind, Eliah thought. "Yes, dear?"

"When are we getting married?"

Eliah stopped short in his tracks. Zavanra continued walking, pulling him a step forward. "Well?" she demanded.

"Are all Azule girls this forward?" he wondered, the faint trace of a smile playing across his lips.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that over here a woman never asks a man."

"Not even your mother?"

Eliah reflected back. "Actually, I do think she told him of her love before he did, but he asked her to marry him."

"Well, why don't you ask me?"

Marry Zavanra. It's what I've always wanted, Eliah contemplated. How long should I wait until agreeing to this decision? "Just a min--" He changed his mind mid-sentence. He promptly dropped to one knee. He kissed her hand. "Zavanra dear, will you marry me?"

Zavanra's heart skipped a beat. That buss on the hand had reminded her of the dashing Captain Gheenquest. Should she say yes, and forever deny herself the chance to share romance with other men?

"You may get up," she said simply. "Of course I'll marry you, silly. Why do you think I asked?"

Eliah chuckled as he rose to his feet.

They stopped at the manse of Pastor Dunruney. "Ah, Eliah, I heard a visitor from the New World had stopped by to visit you," he greeted. He was an man of average height with curly red hair.

"This is Zavanra," Eliah introduced proudly. "We wish to speak with you on some matter of imporantance."

"We wish to get married," Zavanra blurted.

"This is a very serious decision," the pastor said. "Are you sure of yourself, Eliah?"

"As sure as I am sure the sun rises every morning."

"But Eliah, surely you know the rules about believers marrying from among the heathen," Dunruney said in a loud whisper that Zavanra could easily overhear.

"I am a convert!" she protested.

"Glad to hear it. But even so, people don't marry people of other skin colors. It just isn't done. A hawk doesn't mate with a beebird."

"There are less differences between us than between a hawk and a beebird," Eliah stated.

Dunruney's manner became pleading. "Do not ask me to perform this marriage, Eliah! It just goes against everything I have been taught."

Having known this man since childhood, Eliah did not want to alienate him now. "I do not believe this marriage is against the Word, but nonetheless, we shall seek our services elsewhere."

Over the next several days, in all the surrounding villages, the answers were the same. Either the matter of being heathen or of being of a different skin color was brought up.

Finally, Eliah was forced to go to his backup plan. "There's a place in North Terashire called Bretta Gardens," he announced solemnly to his intended. "It's a place where traditionally lovers who might otherwise be rejected go to elope."

"Elope?" Zavanra asked, it being a new word to her. "Is that the same thing as marry?"

Eliah nodded. "Yes, it just means marry on the run, or marry when others oppose your marriage."

"Well, marry my people's way, or your way, or any way--just as long as we do get married!" Zavanra cried, her arms around his neck.

He kissed her quickly on her nose. "That's my girl. Let's go tell my mother. She'll understand."

When he told O'felia, her eyes twinkled with mischief. "Bretta Gardens, huh? I love it! It's just too bad we can't all be there. Bretta Gardens weddings aren't big on crowds."

XIV: WHEN THE WIND TOUCHES YOUR FACE

On the morning they were to leave, friends and relatives came to wave goodbye, giving the couple their best wishes then and there, since they would not be able to attend the actual wedding. Besides Dorios and O'felia, Bluddwinn, Rianna, and Kella Mahawk showed up. Several villagers rounded out the lot. Eliah wished Kalil and his family could have been there, but looked forward to telling Kalil the good news when they made it back to the New World.

The two set out on a pure white unicorn with a silky mane and tail. Zavanra sat behind Eliah, her arms around his torso. She was wearing a Terashiran long coat over a dress of totally Azule origins. They paused in the afternoon to eat the lunch O'felia had packed for them; it consisted solely of fruit. "My mother's a notoriously bad cook," Eliah explained. "That's why she stuck with nature's own creations."

"Oh, well," Zavanra said with her mouth full. "She can't do **everything**."

"That's right," he agreed, lazily leaning back to peer at the clouds. "You know, they say that the clouds are the records of what the so-called gods did the night before..."

"Can I lead Softness when we continue? I think I've learned enough about unicorn riding."

"Sure." 

So when they remounted, he sat behind her, his arms enfolding her. "You know, I remember my father used to hold my mother like this quite often. When they were on a ship, or just standing outside the house, looking out to sea. And they would just stand there like that, for minutes on end, not saying a word."

"It is a nice feeling," his betrothed concurred.

They arrived in Bretta Gardens by the light of the moon. They passed by the manor and gardens for which the village was named. They stopped at a compact stone dwelling on the outskirts. A stable was next to it with two stalls, one occupied. Eliah put Softness in the other.

"You don't need to ask if you can do that?" Zavanra wondered.

"No, it'll be all right."

"Are you sure we won't be waking him?" Zavanra asked with a nervous giggle, following her loved one to the front door.

"Don't worry, I think he sleeps in the day just so he can be awake for runaway lovers in the night," Eliah reassured, lifting the knocker.

They heard a muffled but squeaky voice. "Yes, yes. Just a minute." Not long after, a short, balding man with ruddy cheeks and rounded spectacles answered the door. "Pastor Mickduff at your service...My, what an exotic looking girl." He adjusted his glasses to get a better look Zavanra. "I've seen lots of foreign girls here, but none quite like you."

"She's from the New Continent," Eliah explained.

Mickduff took Zavanra's arm, holding it out for inspection. "My, she certainly is a beauty. Prettiest one I've ever seen. If I hadn't followed the call of celibacy, I'd be after her myself."

Zavanra blushed purple.

"Come in, come in!" the pastor insisted. "You can hang your coats on the rack." He led them into a small kitchen with a wooden table. "Have a glass of Fleurian wine; it's tradition. Besides, it helps quell those nervous jitters." He poured them each a glass.

"So, what brings you two here?" Mickduff asked, not waiting for an answer. "I bet I know--she's supposedly a heathen, and some minister with his nose up in the air refuses to marry you."

"Exactly," Eliah replied, taking a sip of his wine.

"As though all women of different skin colors were heathen!" Zavanra exclaimed. "I have been saved for quite a while now."

"I know that two people of differing religions should not be married," Eliah related. "But I don't see how that applies to two people of different races."

"My feelings exactly," Mickduff said, polishing his glasses.

"Do you get a lot of mixed race couples here?" Zavanra wondered.

"A few. But mostly young couples whose parents disagree."

"Don't you ever worry you might be doing the wrong thing by marrying youngsters who might not know what commitment is yet?" Eliah questioned.

"Yes, but their passion is such it can hardly be contained. I'd rather they consummate their ardor for each other within the moral bounds of marriage, instead of commiting fornication."

Zavanra placed her empty glass next to Eliah's cup on the wooden table. "Well, I guess you're ready to move on," Mickduff observed. He led them down a hallway into a small chapel. There was a stained glass window, a solitary pew, and a podium. Other than that and the light from the candlestick, it was bare gray walls.

Mickduff stood in front of the podium. "Your names, please?"

"I'm Eliah Qwess, and this is Zavanra."

"Zavannah?"

"Zavanra," she intoned.

"Zavanra," Mickduff pronounced carefully.

"That's right."

"Join your wrists, please." The young couple did so, and Mickduff bound them together with a short rope. He then took his place behind the podium.

The pastor cleared his throat. "Eliah, do you take Zavanra to be your lawful wife, to love and take care of through good times and bad, sickness and health, wealth and poverty, through times when your love burns bright, and even through times when that love's zeal fades somewhat, to be together until death?"

"I do."

"Zavanra, do you take Eliah as your lawful husband, to love and to care for through good times and bad, sickness and health, wealth and poverty, through times when your love burns bright, and even through times when that love's zeal fades somewhat, to be together until death?"

"I do."

"Then as this rope now physically binds you, may you hereafter be binded in spirit," Mickduff spoke, coming out from behind the podium. With a fluid motion, he undid the knot. "I hereby pronounce you husband and wife."

Eliah and Zavanra embraced. "Oh, Eliah, is this real?" she nearly whispered.

"Now for the exciting part," Mickduff said, straight-faced. "Follow me." He led them up a flight of stairs into a tiny room. Besides a bed and a small table with a lamp, it had a window which was rather high up. "It's not the sultan's harem rooms, but it serves its purpose. Have fun, you two. And don't worry about time." He ducked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Now what?" Zavanra asked, kneeling on the bed.

Eliah folded his arms. "You mean you don't know?"

She giggled. "Oh, I know. An older woman teaches each Azule girl when she first hits puberty. A bunch of us hit puberty at one time so we were all taught together by an old woman, Dokah."

"My dad would have explained if he had lived a year or two longer. My Mom sent me to Kalil for answers instead."

"Before that, though, there is another Azule tradition. It is called the ken soo eirro: the singing of the love song."

Eliah sat beside her on the bed. "Uh, I didn't prepare anything."

"No, I didn't tell you you should have." Her eyes grew distant as she started singing, and she rose from the bed. The words were in her native tongue, but Eliah had learned enough to understand. "You are life to me, and now you will listen while I tell you this, that you are life to me.

"You are breath to me, and I cannot go back to my life before, for you are breath to me."

Eliah sat silent on the bed. Zavanra kneeled before him, placing her hands on top of his, smiling shyly. "What can I say about that?" he asked. "How do you follow someone pouring out their soul before you? But if you want me to, I remember a song my parents used to enjoy."

"Please," she requested, resting her head on his lap.

"Forgive me if my voice is not as lovely as yours." He cleared his throat. "Like my father, singing isn't my forte."

"If I go away, I'll still be here

When the wind touches your face

When it runs its fingers through your hair

When it wraps around you like an embrace"

While he was singing, Eliah performed the gestures of the song, caressing her cheek, combing her long tresses with his fingers, and finally, as they stood together, holding her close.

What happened next, Zavanra did not remember in the literal sense. What she did remember was somehow, instead of the dimly lit room she was physically in, she found herself standing on a windswept cliff, the breeze blowing her luxuriously long hair in all directions. From out of the mist stepped Eliah, and she joined hands with him. Round and round they span as they looked into each other’s eyes, faster and faster, becoming a cyclone. Surroundings were clouded. They were blurred; Zavanra herself could not tell where she ended and where he began. And then her breath was sucked right out of her, becoming one with the winds.

She was exhausted after this and was only dimly aware of Eliah again running his fingers through her hair. Gradually, she realized that they were no longer on the bed, but had fallen to the floor. She felt the thick, rough carpeting beneath her bare skin. Eliah scooped her off the floor and gently placed her back upon the bed. Soon, she fell into a sound sleep.

The next morning, as Zavanra gazed up at the sunlight filling the room, she smiled. She and her man had consummated their love, and though people might still try to separate them, they could never take that away from them.

XV: PORT OF COCKRELL

They stayed in Bretta Gardens for one more night, then got on Softness and rode away, back to Debrin.

As they neared town, one could hear Zavanra giggle and blush. "Eliah, they're gonna know--"

"Well, of course they're gonna know. That's what people do when they get married."

"You're not nervous about seeing your mother again, after the first time--?"

"Mmmmm...maybe."

They saw a young boy fishing on the river bank. "Hello, Nes," Eliah greeted.

Nes just looked up, his mouth agape, before running off. "They're coming back! They're coming back!"

By the time they arrived at the Qwess cottage, over half the village had showed up. 

Eliah helped Zavanra down from the unicorn. Friends and relatives stared at them anxiously. "We were successfully married!" Eliah announced finally. The people cheered. O'felia came up and hugged her son and daughter-in-law. Then Dorios wanted to do the same.

"What are you going to do now?" Rianna wondered.

Eliah glanced at his wife. She just grinned at him. "We are returning home--to Zavanra's home."

They had to wait just a few days before catching passage in the town of Cockrell, the same town Zavanra had arrived in. Again, relatives and villagers came to see them off before they rode to the other town. O'felia nearly cried over her son, and warmly embraced her daughter-in-law. Zavanra had been entertained by her stories of adventures with Finail, back in the days before they knew they would have a son together, and the Azule girl was sorry she would not hear more of the stories, at least not for a while.

Eliah's concern was that his mother would not relapse into sickness. "Are you sure you're all right?" Eliah asked.

O'felia Mahawk-Qwess put her hands on his shoulders and gave her son a slight shove. "Be off with ye already! I was kicking pirates' butts long before you were born! I know how to take care of meself."

Zavanra laughed and Eliah smiled. "I'll bet you do," Eliah conceded. 

Eliah's mother hugged Zavanra one last time. "Take care of him," O'felia whispered in her ear. "Just as he's not sure his mother can take care of herself, a mother often worries the same thing where her son's concerned."

They arrived in Cockrell without incident, not knowing they had not seen the last of O'felia. They were on board ship, watching some last minute tasks being taken care of on shore, when a unicorn and rider suddenly galloped into the harbor. Dismounting, O'felia handed a certain man the steed, who took its bridle with a nod after she spoke a few words. As she took a couple of bags off the saddle, her son and Zavanra bounded back down the gangplank. "Mother...?" Eliah wondered.

"I been cooped up so long I nearly forgot what adventure is," she said by way of explanation. "I want to travel again, like I did in the good ol' days."

"You mean, back in the days when you 'kicked pirates' butts'?"

"Those were the days, all right."

"I look forward to making the journey with you," Zavanra said graciously. "You were only just beginning to tell me the story of your life."

Eliah took his mother's arm as he led her up the gangplank. "What about Shu-Shu?" he wondered.

"With Bluddwinn and Rianna, as usual."

"You should have brought Shu-Shu along!" Eliah insisted. "The Azules will love dogs."

"Love to eat them," Zavanra said, straight-faced.

Eliah jerked his head around.

She blushed. "Just kidding."

XVI: FACING THE CONSEQUENCES

Zavanra was shocked to once again have Ralf Gheenquest as the captain. He greeted Zavanra as he always did, with a kiss to her hand. “Captain, I am married now!” Zavanra explained.

“And a beautiful, blushing bride you are,” Gheenquest remarked, not realizing Zavanra was hinting at him not to flirt. “This must be Eliah Qwess, whom I have heard so much about I feel like I know him already.”

“Yes, my husband,” Zavanra acknowledged.

“You lucky rascal,” the captain teased.

“Well, if you know my parents, you know me,” Eliah said, sincerely acting like he and the captain were old chums. Zavanra wondered if her nervousness had been misplaced. 

O’felia stepped up at her son’s words. “What he’s trying to say is a Qwess—or a Mahawk—always accomplishes their goals.”

Captain Gheenquest also kissed O’felia’s hand. “Aahh, the legendary O’felia Mahawk-Qwess! It is indeed an honor to meet you.”

“Flatterer,” O’felia scolded lightly.

The trip was long but uneventful. Zavanra found that she no longer worried about Gheenquest’s effect on her, and instead, she enjoyed time with her husband, looking out to sea. Looking out to sea as O’felia and Finail did in days so long ago, she realized, once catching her mother-in-law gazing wistfully upon the two of them.

As they neared their destination, Zavanra looked forward to seeing home again. Then she thought of what welcome her father might have for her, and she was nervous. What if she were to be punished?

Her worries on getting a chilly reception abruptly disappeared when familiar coastline came into sight. Familiar, but different¼”What’s that up there on that ridge?” she asked her husband in alarm. 

Eliah used his hand as a visor for his eyes, and gazed in the direction his wife was pointing. “Oh, I see Kalil and the others have started building their houses.”

“Houses?” Zavanra demanded, sounding indignant. “You mean like those dirty little boxes back in Terashire?”

“Terashirans and most other people back in the Old World don’t live in burrows, Zavanra”, Eliah reminded gently. 

“What about the tents?”

“Our tents were merely a temporary form of shelter.”

“Will they build houses all over?” she asked. “What about our burrows?”

“As to the first question, I do not know. But as for the second, I will see to it personally even if no one else does that your lands are not violated.”

Zavanra sighed and folded her arms across her chest. “I suppose if we are to live together, the Old Worlders must live as they are used to.”

Their reception committee was mixed—part peachskin, part Azule. Zavanra’s concerned eyes scanned the crowd. She saw her father, standing with his arms folded, his face unreadable. Kalil, Orendi, and their four sons were there. Xalina could hardly stand still. Shyly, Zavanra tried not to meet the gaze of any of them as she walked down the gangplank, her arm linked with her husband’s.

Xalina broke some of the tension by running up to her stepsister with a cry of, “Zavanra!” They hugged each other briefly. 

Gulping, Zavanra then walked up to her father. They stood in silence for a moment, eyeing each other warily. “Father, I—” she began.

“You are an adult now,” he said simply.

Her expression became hopeful. “Father, do you forgive me?”

“Yes, my daughter.” Gleefully, she embraced him. “You gave me a bit of a scare,” he clarified. “But Xalina told me where you had gone.”

Zavanra was fearful again. “Father, there is something more I must tell you.” By this time, Eliah had come to stand behind her. She took his hand. “Father, I—that is, we—”

“I know who this young man is, Zavanra,” Zavan said, thinking she looked like she was about to make introductions. Meanwhile, Kalil’s family and others had gathered around.

“Father, he is my husband.” A gasp passed through the crowd.

“Hey, you got married?” Kalil cried. “Congratulations! I’m just sorry we missed the ceremony.”

“Everyone did,” Eliah explained. “We had to go to Bretta Gardens to find someone who would marry an Azule to a peachskin.”

Zavanra looked expectantly at her father. “I know nothing of this Bretta Gardens,” he stated. “Why should I recognize this marriage?”

“But father--!”

“You will return to my burrow and he to his tent until you can be married in a proper Azule wedding.” With that, Zavan walked off.

“Oh, Eliah¼” Zavanra began tearfully.

Eliah remained optimistic. “I thought he let us off rather easily. All we have to do is get married again, then everything’s okay.”

Kalil clasped a hand on Eliah’s shoulder. “Good, then we get to come to your wedding anyway.” He then turned to O’felia and embraced her warmly. “Hey, what’s it like being a mother-in-law?”

“We will have to be apart,” Zavanra said to her husband, fondling his chest.

“It will just be awhile,” he assured her.


	3. Part Three:  New Life, New Death

XVII: KALIL AND THE CASE OF THE COVETED MILKSTONE

There was no rule that the two could not see each other during the day; however, and before retiring that night, they went up to the ridge to see the new homes. Eliah noticed that although Zavanra nodded and smiled cheerfully, that she was still not yet accustomed to these buildings that were new to the face of her homeland. 

Kalil was their guide. “This is the beginning of our town—we, er, founded it while you were away. I tried to hold the ceremony off, but everybody was impatient.”

Eliah shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“Will it get as big as the towns in Terashire, especially that port city?” Zavanra wondered curiously.

“I don’t know, my dear,” Kalil replied. “Probably not in our lifetime. Our town is called Finail, after Eliah’s father, of course.”

“Yes, O’felia Mahawk-Qwess has been telling me all about his many brave deeds.”

“I just want him to live on somehow,” Kalil muttered, a far away look coming to his eyes. “I mean, I know he lives on in Heaven¼” He choked up. “Oh, I’m being silly! I’m sorry, Eliah.”

“It’s all right,” Finail’s son said reassuringly.

“It’s been ten years. I shouldn’t keep getting teary-eyed.”

“Believe me, my mother and I are flattered that you keep our Finail in your heart.”

Kalil collected his senses, then showed off his own house. He was quite proud of his little cabin. “It has two bedrooms—well, the one for the boys is actually more of a bunk room. Anyway, I think it’s delightful and cozy, kind of like a cottage in Debrin, but made out of wood.”

They made their way to the next house down the line. Zavanra suddenly gasped and ran around the house. She sped back to Eliah, then stopped, gasping for breath. “What is it, dear?” her husband asked.

“The tree! It’s gone!”

“What tree?” Kalil asked, a disturbed expression on his face. “Lots of trees were cut down.”

“My favorite tree! The one I used to climb on as a child!”

“Zavanra,” Eliah said, trying to explain as gently as he could. “Trees needed to be cut down to make room for the houses, and to provide the building material for the houses themselves.”

“I know,” she said reluctantly.

“If I had known it was your favorite tree, I wouldn’t have let it be cut down,” Kalil told her earnestly. “You’ll have to tell us if there are any more favorite trees or sacred trees.”

Zavanra cast her eyes toward the sky. “Kalil, to me, all trees are favorites. But do not mind me. I know you need to live here.” She walked on, ahead of the group.

Kalil glanced at Eliah for help. “She’ll get over it,” Eliah said. “When my mother rearranged the furniture shortly after my father’s death, I threw a crying fit.”

As he usually did, Kalil winced at the mention of his friend Finail’s untimely demise. Other subjects were at the forefront of his mind, however. “She may be right about the trees, though,” he remarked thoughtfully. 

“We can’t leave them all up. Even she knows that.”

“Yes, but we can make sure we don’t chop them all down too hastily.”

It wasn’t the first time Kalil would defend the Azules’ land. As the long days drew near for Eliah’s and Zavanra’s second wedding, news hit them about a discovery. “There’s milkstone in that hermit’s cave,” a settler said, as the gossip spread to all the peachskins.

Eliah was standing outside Kalil’s house, talking with him, Habib, and Hamal. “Milkstone in whose cave?” Kalil wondered.

“That crazy old hermit,” the settler repeated. “The one who tried to do you in.” He pointed at Eliah.

“You mean Uboro,” Kalil clarified.

“That’s right. Udoro, Umoro, Ubodo—that crazy old shaman. And I intend to get me some of that milkstone!”

“With the mystic’s permission, of course?” Kalil added with forced innocence.

“Why? He don’t deserve it, not after all those people he’s sacrificed. I bet he doesn’t even know the value of milkstone anyway!” The settler laughed and walked off.

“If many more of our settlers get milkstone fever like that guy, Uboro’s in trouble,” Kalil said worriedly.

“I thought he was our enemy,” young Hamal remarked.

“He is someone to watch out for. Eliah can testify to that fact. But that’s _his_ cave. He’s the one who’s been living in it, not us.”

Eliah nodded knowingly. “You’re going to defend Uboro then?”

“Yes,” Kalil said with resolve. “If they use Uboro’s false religion or his ethics as an excuse to pillage his possessions now—which are good-sounding reasons, I must agree—but if they use that as an excuse now, it’s just opening the way for them to use any excuse to take the aboriginal people’s possessions away from them. Including the possessions of friends like Zavan, Xalina, and your wife.”

“Uboro drugged me,” Eliah began. “He would have taken my life.”

Kalil glanced at Eliah with a pleading eye.

“Nonetheless, I will stand by you on this,” Eliah decided.

Kalil timidly approached Uboro’s cave. “Uboro¼!” he called out. “I know you don’t like me much, but we need to talk. Your safety may be in danger.”

Uboro shoved his face into the light. “Is it about those no-people who come around here, nosing around in my cave when I did not invite them in?”

“Yes.”

“Come in.”

Kalil stepped into the cave, and gazed open-mouthed at the shimmering milkstone. It was an off-white jewel streaked with colors of the rainbow, and different colors appeared depending on which angle one viewed the stones from. “Beautiful. Simply marvelous.”

Uboro merely grunted.

“Back where we come from, men would fight for such jewels,” Kalil explained. 

“They will not have these,” Uboro stated. “This cave is sacred to Kiomar.”

Kalil didn’t like the idea of defending the cave for Kiomar’s sake, but he stood by his conviction that the Azules’ claims must be respected. “Yes, well, the settlers wanting these milkstones don’t believe in Kiomar. Maybe they don’t believe in any god.”

As if on cue, the settler who had told the news to Kalil and Eliah stomped into the cave. “I believe in money. That’s what I believe in.”

“Get out of here, Jedun,” Kalil ordered. “You’re on private property.”

Jedun looked disdainfully at his fellow settler. “You’re going to defend this mumbo-jumbo man?”

Uboro pointed a long and bony finger at the trespasser. “This ‘mumbo-jum’ man places a curse on you in the name of Kiomar!”

“See?” Jedun asked Kalil. “He defends a false god. How can you defend that?”

“I’m not defending his god. I’m defending his right to property.”

“Get out of my way, Kalil,” Jedun snarled.

Kalil stood with his arms folded. “No.”

Suddenly, Jedun swung a fist at him. It hit Kalil’s jaw and sent him crashing against the jagged wall.

“Dad!” someone shouted, and middle sons Habib and Haresh rushed into the cave, tackling Jedun and sending him sprawling to the ground. Eliah soon followed the brothers into the cave. Habib and Haresh each grabbed hold of one of Jedun’s arms, while Eliah knelt down by his godfather. Blood was spilling down from a cut in the side of Kalil’s head.

“Are you all right, Uncle?” Eliah asked.

“I think I’ll be okay.”

As Kalil stood up, Uboro looked at him in wonder. “You would bleed for me? After I was going to sacrifice your sons?”

“You were what?” Kalil demanded.

“He just happened to nab me instead,” Eliah explained with a placating smile. He turned back to Uboro. “Kalil does what he does because he believes his God wants us to care for each other—even if the others are ones not sharing our beliefs.”

Uboro nodded silently, but Eliah could tell he was impressed.

“Okay, new rule,” Eliah said aloud to no one in particular. “Any settler caught raiding Uboro’s cave is sentenced to stay in our newly constructed jail.”

XVIII: A WEDDING RING

Zavanra and Eliah met in the communal clearing. “Too bad we’re only allowed to see each other in the daytime,” the latter remarked. “But at least it’s only for a couple more days.”

“I brought you something,” she said, bringing her hands out from behind her back. What she revealed was a small, intricately carved chest. 

“Oh, how lovely.” Eliah took it from her.

“That’s not the present! I mean, you can keep that, too, but the present’s inside.”

“Oh.” He opened it. Inside was a man’s Smoky Waters necklace, in the traditional colors of red and green.

“It’s a custom for the bride and groom to present gifts to each other shortly before the wedding.”

“I would have got you something, Zavanra, only there’s no stores over here yet.”

“Don’t worry. I should have filled you in on the custom before now.”

“I’ll rummage up something,” Eliah promised. “Should I wear this to the wedding?”

“I think it will impress my father if you did.”

“Then help me put it on now,” Eliah begged. 

“Does getting married mean were virgins again?” she joked as she adjusted the necklace’s clasp.

“Not for long,” Eliah stated confidently, as he felt her breath on his neck.

Later that day, Eliah and his mother came to Zavan’s burrow, where Zavanra was staying as though she were still his ingenue daughter. “I—or should I say, we—have something for you,” Eliah announced.

Zavanra exited the burrow, blushing. “You didn’t have to do that!”

“Close your eyes and open your hands,” O’felia ordered. Zavanra did so. She felt O’felia place a cold, metallic object in her palm. 

“Can I look now?” Zavanra asked.

“Certainly,” Eliah replied.

Zavanra released the instinctive fist she had placed around the object. She gasped. She recognized the ring as the one O’felia always wore. “It’s the Ring of Truth! But, O’felia, this is your wedding ring, from when you married Finail Qwess.”

“I know, and I want it to be an heirloom.” Seeing Zavanra looked confused at the use of that word, O’felia stepped up to her and clutched her hand with her own fingers, wrapping around them and the ring tightly. “I pass it on to you, my daughter-in-law, and you will pass it down to your daughter or daughter-in-law, and so it will continue for generations of women.”

“I understand,” Zavanra said solemnly.

When the day came, Zavanra dressed identical to the way she had dressed for her adult initiation. At last her beloved would get to see her in her special outfit.

Eliah was also dressed to please. He wore the red and green necklace, and he wore a tan fringed leather top and pants, much like Azule men wore.

The ceremony was in the communal clearing. O’felia stood with Dorios and all of Kalil’s family. “I guess we get to be there at my son’s wedding after all,” she remarked to them.

“Yeah, well, I missed out on the first one,” Kalil remarked, absent-minded.

“We _all_ did,” O’felia reminded him. “They eloped.”

In back of all the people, Eliah met with Zavanra. They joined hands and walked into the open space, where Zavan and Xixla were waiting for them.

XIX: A PARTY INTERRUPTED

One Azule who did not attend was Uboro. He sulked in his milkstone cave, talking to himself. “Kalil is my friend, but I do not know if I like the union of his..” He tried to think what relation was Eliah to Kalil. “¼Nephew to our chief’s daughter.”

“Uboro, my servant, arise,” said a voice. 

The mystic looked up. All he saw was a metallic ball floating in the air. He had recognized the voice, though. “Kiomar, my lord,” he whispered, quickly rising.

“Why do you dwell in my sacred cave instead of at home?” the voice from the ball asked.

“There have been changes to the Smoky Waters tribe, my lord. Not at all good.”

The ball hovered silently for a moment, then the voice sounded again. “Explain.”

Uboro grew suddenly afraid. He threw himself prostrate. “My lord, please, I tried to warn them. I have done no wrong¼”

“Just tell me.”

“They have fallen astray. They worship a new god.”

The ball didn’t answer. It hummed for a moment, then flew away. An instant later, a humanoid figure shadowed the entrance of the cave, then stepped in. His walk was regal, his head held high and erect. He was blue, like the Smoky Waters tribe, but closer to turquoise than the true blue of the Azules, plus he had no stripes. His black hair was closely cropped to his head. His finely featured face looked like it had been carved out of wood. His black eyes burned intently. 

Uboro threw himself back to the ground. “Kiomar, my lord!”

“It seems your people need to be reminded of my prescence,” Kiomar stated. “Tell them I am coming.”

Uboro kept his head to the ground. “As you wish.”

“Tell them¼” Kiomar nudged Uboro’s head with his foot. “Now!”

Frightened Uboro scurried away. “Yes my lord yes my lord!”

At the feast following the wedding, there was lots of dancing. The Azules taught the settlers their steps, and the settlers in turn taught the Azules some new moves. Eliah had just had the dubious honor of dancing with Rudaleda, who had decided to show up for this momentous occasion in her daughter’s life. Now he was dancing with his own mother. All was peaceful and happy.

Then Uboro came running, shouting. “Stop all your dancing! Kiomar has come! Take shame upon yourselves and plead for his mercy!”

“This guy’s a nut,” Eliah explained in a low voice to his mother.

“Maybe not,” O’felia said, concern in her voice. “Kiomar is real enough; he killed your father after all.”

Eliah grabbed Uboro by the shoulders. “Explain what is going on.”

“There will be no need for that,” a new and commanding voice announced. Everyone gasped, looking up to see Kiomar stroll onto the scene.

“You bastard ‘god’!” O’felia spat, unable to hold back her temper. “You killed my husband.”

“Ah, Finail Qwess, I remember,” Kiomar acknowledged, making it sound as if it were a pleasant memory to him.

“You’re as human as the rest of us,” O’felia continued angrily. “You just are more advanced. You’re no god.”

“Perhaps you need to be taught the same lesson I taught your dear husband.” Kiomar took what looked like a black cylinder from his belt, aiming at O’felia. What looked like lightning bolts crackled all over her body. 

“No!” her son shouted.

A slight cry escaped O’felia’s lips. She sank to the ground. “Let that be a lesson to all of you,” Kiomar said smugly, turning away.

Kalil rushed at him. Kiomar pressed something else in his belt and disappeared.

Finail was kneeling by his mother, and Zavanra was behind him, her hand on his shoulder. “Kalil, over here!” he called.

Seeing the pursuit of Kiomar was useless, Kalil hurried over to his fallen shipmate. “Is there anything we can do for her?” Eliah asked.

Kalil closed his eyes, bracing himself for the bad news he was about to give. “I don’t know of anything, Eliah. There was nothing I could do about Finail. I’m sorry.”

O’felia stirred, and raised a hand to her son’s face. “Don’t you worry about me, me boy. I’m tough. I can handle it.”

“The effects won’t show right away,” Kalil warned. He swallowed hard. “She’ll slowly deterioate over the next few days.”

At this news, Zavanra burst into tears.

XX: LEAVE ME ALONE

For the first day, O’felia was a little weak. Then she became feverish, and everyone decided she needed bed rest. They took her out of the tent she had been sleeping in, and placed her in a newly built cabin. Stuck in bed for three days now, she was becoming restless. No one was about to stop her from going for a short walk. She sat up and swooned. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Curiously, she felt a presence enter the room, but saw no one and heard no footsteps. “I recognize that feeling,” she murmured to herself. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was staring into the transparent image of her late husband. “Finail!”

He smiled warmly, his eyes shining. “I’ve come to take you home, my love.”

"Peek in on my mother, if you will," Eliah asked Zavanra. Zavanra did so, confused to see O'felia Mahawk-Qwess's body jerking about. As realization dawned suddenly on her, she turned away and stifled a gasp with her cupped hands. "What is it?" Eliah asked worriedly. Zavanra could not answer.

Eliah rushed in. "Mother, no! Stop it!"

Zavanra could only remain standing outside, trembling. She saw Kalil walking in the distance. "Kalil! Kalil!" she called desperately.

Kalil ran up, clasping her hands. "O'felia, is she--?"

"She is gone."

Kalil ran in to ascertain this. Zavanra followed at his heels.

Eliah was sitting at the foot of the bed, his face red, his hands supporting his head. O'felia's body was finally at rest, a thin trickle of blood running from her lips. Her eyes were wide open and staring. Kalil went over and closed them. "Fare thee well, my longtime friend," he uttered reverently.

He put his hand on Eliah's shoulder. "I--"

"Just leave me alone," Eliah ordered through gritted teeth.

Kalil hastily withdrew. 

"But Eliah--" Zavanra began.

"Leave me alone," O'felia's son intoned again, not even looking at her.

"Come, my dear," Kalil said quickly, grabbing her arm. "He really does need his time alone." Zavanra let him lead her outside, but she was hurt and confused not only by O'felia's death, but by her husband's shunning of them.

As if reading her thoughts, Kalil explained, "People react to grief differently, honey. Eliah was like that when he saw his father die. He didn't want to speak to either his mother or myself. But that's only for a short time."

"I know," Zavanra said, trying to understand.

That night, Zavanra found herself drawn to the cliffsides overlooking the sea. The chilly wind tossed her hair and made her shiver.

And then she saw it. Floating against the cloudy night sky, a ship seemingly made of mist. It did not even touch the sea. The wood of the ship looked like silver, and the sails seemed to be made out of moonstone. Zavanra gasped, then just stared.

On board were two people. One was O'felia, looking several years younger and healthier, too. She was being held by a young man who Zavanra also recognized, from Eliah's and O'felia's descriptions, and from some illustrations Dorios had once shown her. It was Finail Qwess.

Her eyes aligned with their eyes. They saw her, and smiled warmly. Finail saluted and waved. The vision faded back into the mist.

Zavanra remained where she was, trying to process what she had just witnessed. She heard footsteps. She poised herself to run.

"It's just me," Eliah said. He came up behind her and grabbed hold of her shouldlers.

"Did you see it?" she asked.

"See what?"

She did not reply, wondering for a moment if she had seen it herself.

"About earlier," Eliah began. "Whenever life strikes me a heavy blow, I just need some time to myself. It's nothing to take personally."

"I know. You didn't see the ship, then?"

"The ship? There's another ship here? Is it Aldean or some sort of enemy ship?"

"No, the ghost ship." Slowly and carefully, Zavanra explained her vision.

Eliah looked at her thoughtfully as she finished. Finally, he said, "You have a way, Zavanra, of seeing things other people miss. I know mother is with father now, and that they are both happy." He held out his hand for Zavanra to take, and together they walked back to the burrows.

XXI: REBELLION

There was some controversy regarding O’felia’s corpse. Back in Terashire, they usually buried people in coffins. This was strange to the Smoky Waters Azules, who buried people sans container, so that their decaying bodies could “feed the earth”. Although it also was foreign to the Azules, cremation proved the final answer, as Ofelia’s husband’s body had also been disposed of in this way, the ashes cast upon the sea.

“About half of our converts have gone back to the Kiomar cult,” Kalil reported, accompanying Eliah to a special meeting a concerned Zavan had called.

“Yes, but at least, they’re already saved and won’t go to hell,” Eliah pointed out.

“It will not be so easy now,” Zavanra said, running to keep up with Eliah’s determined stride.

Eliah took his place, standing in front of a crowd. He had been invited to speak to the gathered Azules. “My mother is dead. But I will not follow Kiomar. He also killed my father. Just because he has the power to kill does not mean he is a god. My mother and father died for their faith, much as the Son of God died for ours.”

“But will you protect us from him?” one old Azule man asked.

Zavan stepped in. “Who will protect us from our enemy tribes? Do we just give in to them? No. There may be a price to pay, but we must not forget how to defend ourselves.”

“Are you planning to kill Kiomar?” another wondered.

“That may prove he is not a god,” Eliah replied. “But, no, not if he leaves us alone. It has been in my parents’ and Kalil’s experience that sometimes these gods are too busy watching everyone in their domain; they may let us go for a time.”

“Oh, I may let you go for a time,” a commanding voice announced. Kiomar stepped into view, Uboro following in his shadow. “But not yet.”

Uboro ran up to his master. “Ah, faithful Uboro,” Kiomar acknowledged.

“If you really are a god, let’s see if you bleed,” Uboro said suddenly, scratching Kiomar’s arm with a shard of moonstone. Blood ran.

“You too, Uboro?” Kiomar asked sadly. 

“The god bleeds,” Uboro said solemnly.

“Why can’t a god bleed? Did not this God’s Son, who the peachskins keep talking about, bleed for His people’s sin?”

“Ah, Kiomar speaks the truth,” Eliah remarked, pleasantly sarcastic. 

“We will not worship you anymore,” Zavan announced. Behind him, many Azules had gathered, looking ready to fight.

“I can strike you all down, you know,” Kiomar bragged.

“What good would that do?” Eliah asked. “Let us go, Kiomar. Seek worshippers elsewhere.”

“So be it. But you will get no more help or protection from me. Especially if you are attacked by a tribe who remains faithful to me.” Kiomar pressed a bracelet he wore, and vanished.

The crowd remained silent for a moment or two after he had gone. Then, Zavanra cried, “We are free!” Her people cheered.

Zavan slapped Uboro on the back. “Welcome back to the tribe, old mystic!”

XXII: LOVED ONES

Kalil watched on as Zavanra and Xalina met briefly, clasping hands. “I can’t go bird watching with you today,” Zavanra said. “Maybe later. Eliah and I must decide on whether our permanent home will be underground or a log cabin.”

“Okay,” Xalina conceded reluctantly. “But it’s migratory season and the birds may be gone tomorrow.” She scurried away.

Kalil stood up. “Zavanra, may I talk to you about something? The home issue can wait a while.”

“Alright, Kalil.”

“It is a private matter.”

Zavanra nodded, but looked confused. “Father is out. We can go in my house.”

They sat down in the underground den and Zavanra offered her guest some char, a kind of herbal tea.

“You’ve heard us talk a lot about Finail, Eliah’s father.”

She gave a slight smile. “He was your friend.”

“Yes, my best friend. The best friend anyone could ask for and one of the greatest men to ever live.” Zavanra raised an eyebrow at Kalil’s superlative-laden description. “He made me see my own value.”

“You cared about him very much.”

Kalil rested his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. “Yes, and I’ve come to realize I think I’ve loved Finail more than Orendi.”

“Your own wife?”

“Yes. It’s not that I wanted to..physically love Finail, but I have had a great deal of purely emotional love for him. And his son, Eliah, I love him as much as any one of my own sons.” He was silent, and Zavanra pondered why he had called her here in the first place.

“You’re probably wondering what I’m getting at,” Kalil assumed.

“Yes.”

“Finail is gone now. I can no longer be with him. You have a friend in your stepsister, Zavanra, that you have put aside. Now, wait—before you say anything—it’s wonderful that you and Eliah are so in love and so wrapped up in each other, but you mustn’t forget your other relationships.”

Zavanra nodded. “I understand.”

Silently walked the Smoky Waters Azules. Thus it was that Xalina, hidden among the bushes, found Zavanra suddenly beside her. “I thought you couldn’t come,” whispered Xalina.

“Shhh! It can wait, but the birds can’t.”

They both became quiet as a brilliant red bird with a scissortail alit upon the ground.

A quiet moment was followed by busy ones, as Eliah packed to go back to the Old World.

“This time I get to come with you,” Zavanra said.

“But of course!” Eliah conceeded, stacking two crates near the ship. “Progress at last!”

Kalil walked up. “I’m coming, too.”

“Orendi doesn’t mind?” Zavanra asked.

“She has four strapping young men to look after her. So, Eliah, you really gonna sign over the company to Bluddwinn and Rianna?”

“Oh, we’ll still have part ownership in it. I just need them handling things over on the old side of the world.”

Soon it was time to depart. Zavanra and Xalina hugged their goodbyes. “I can’t believe you’re leaving again!” Xalina cried.

“I’ll be back, as always,” Zavanra promised. “Meanwhile, you keep learning written language with Kalil’s boys. Then maybe you can teach my father and others of the tribe.”

“She’ll be a school teacher,” Kalil observed.

Zavan lay a hand on Eliah’s shoulder. “I am entrusting you with the care of my daughter.” Zavanra came up and sidled against her husband.

“I’ll take very good care of her,” Eliah assured.

Out on the waves, Zavanra was seasick more often than last time. Walking on deck didn’t always help. It wasn’t that the seas were particularly rough; in fact, it was smooth sailing.

Once, when Eliah was comforting Zavanra after she had vomited over the side of the ship, Kalil bounded up. “I think I’ve got the answer!”

“A cure?” Zavanra wondered through half-closed eyes.

“No. I, er, that is to say, I think what the problem—well, it isn’t really a problem¼”

“What is it, Uncle Kalil?” Eliah interrupted, seeming to be impatient, when actually he was quite tolerant of Kalil’s goofy manners.

“I think Zavanra is pregnant.”

The woman in question let out a soft squeal of delight. “A baby!”

“This is great news indeed!” agreed Eliah. “We’ll finish up business here, and be back in the New World in time for the child to be born.”

XXIII: IT IS ONLY FOR YOU

It was not to be as planned. Upon arrival in Terashire, Kalil and Eliah heard news of war with Aldea. They arrived in Debrin and the home of Bluddwinn and Rianna. “It’s not good,” Bluddwinn told them. “There’s talk of a draft. You arrived at the worst possible time.”

Eliah and Kalil hoped hope against hope that nothing would come of it, but soon a messenger arrived in town. “All able bodied men are to report for duty.”

“What will you do?” Zavanra asked worriedly, coming up behind her husband as he listened to the mounted messenger. “Will it be long?”

“First we have to report to see if we’re fit for duty,” Eliah explained.

Zavanra’s face brightened a little.

“We most certainly are fit,” Kalil announced grimly.

Zavanra’s face sunk.

Eliah grabbed her by the shoulder. “If we are called away, I want you to stay here with Rianna. She will take good care of you. I will try to be back before the baby is born.”

“Let us hope this war will not take long,” Kalil opined.

“What is this war about?” Zavanra wondered.

“Certain islands in the New Southern Islands are under dispute,” Bluddwinn reported. “Do the colonies belong to Aldea or Terashire?”

“I hate real estate wars,” Kalil remarked bitterly. “Why don’t they just hold a sporting match, and whoever wins two out of three games gets the islands? There may be some rioting perhaps, but a lot less bloodshed.”

Eliah, Kalil, and Bluddwinn were all to leave the same day. Eliah and Kalil had somehow managed to get on the same ship together, serving under Admiral Kli on the Unicorn. They would be sailing to the New Southern Islands, where Aldea had many tropical colonies.

At the dock, Zavanra held her husband. “Why are they always trying to keep us apart?” she asked mournfully.

“They didn’t succeed,” he answered. “We will always be together. Our souls have been joined.” He took hold of her hands and kissed them. “But I will be back, this I vow. If not in body, then in spirit.”

“I have something for you to take with you,” she said. “It’s not something you can hold in your hands¼It’s another song.” She lifted her voice. . "When the wind blows through my hair, it is only for you. When the sun reflects from my eyes, it is only for you. Though others may see me, to hold me is only for you."

XXIV: KLI AND LINNA

So long had they been out to sea. So long away¼

“It’s not that long,” Rianna chided gently. “You’re still far away from having that baby.”

“She is getting restless for her father,” Zavanra said, rubbing her feet along the wooden floor of the kitchen.

Rianna looked up from her pot of stew. “It is a girl then? How do you know?”

Zavanra blushed. “Actually, I do not know.”

Rianna pressed two of her fingers together, as if she were about to snap them. “I can tell, if you really want to know¼”

“No magic spells!” Zavanra warned quickly.

Rianna made a pouty face. “Oh, you’ve been listening to the men folk way too long.”

In a brief moment of rest, Eliah looked out to sea. He heard Kalil come up behind him. “I hope she is okay.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Kalil assured him. “I’m worried about Orendi and the boys. I hope Captain Gheenquest gets my message to them okay.” 

A cry came from above. “Aldean ship approaching!”

“All hands to battle stations,” Eliah guessed.

“All hands to battle stations!” ordered Admiral Kli.

“Lord, keep us safe,” Kalil prayed quickly, then dashed to his station.

The battle was a decisive victory for the Terashiran navy. The Aldean ship sunk to the depths below, while a few survivors bobbed in the water, without even a lifeboat to transport them. Stranded they were, in the middle of a vast ocean.

“I feel so badly for them,” Kalil muttered to Eliah, as they watched the distance between the frantic survivors and themselves grow. A couple of them swam futilely after Admiral Kli’s ship. “They’re just people like us—probably with families, too.”

Admiral Kli came up behind them. “What are you two nogginheads staring at?”

“The survivors, sir,” Kalil replied.

“Couldn’t we cut loose one of the lifeboats for them?” Eliah asked.

“What, and save those scurvy Aldean dogs?” Kli returned. “Get back to work!” He resumed going about his business.

“I guess there’s nothing we can do then,” Kalil said mournfully.

“Wait, there may be a way!” Eliah whispered. He approached the admiral. “Sir, all due respect, but leaving men to die is not the Terashiran way.”

“Admiral Kli takes no prisoners,” the officer informed him.

“Sir, in the name of Queen Linna, I implore you.”

Admiral Kli stood still and glowered.

“Queen Linna, she of the golden hair and ivory face,” Eliah continued.

Kalil remembered that Kli was an admirer of the Virgin Queen. “She will not think it nice that you deviated from Terashiran ways.”

Kli’s face turned red. Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, they could not tell. Then he sighed. “You two, go down in a boat and round up our prisoners. But if even one of them makes any trouble, they will all be executed, and the two of you stranded.”

There were six Aldean prisoners. At first, they were just grateful to be alive, but afterwards the feeling wore off. Jehud Xaca, short and swarthy, seemed intent on making trouble in the name of the Motherland. While still in the brig’s cell, Jehud shot his hand out and grabbed a guard’s throat.

Kli had all the prisoners, as well as Eliah and Kalil, brought up on deck. “The charge is attempting to escape—“

“We did not try to escape!” one of Jehud’s comrades cried out in desperation.

“Silence!” the admiral barked. “You are all in this together. You will all be executed at once.”

“But sir--!” Kalil cut in.

“Silence, or you two shall join them.”

“But sir,” Kalil continued anyway. “They don’t all deserve this.”

“Take only Xaca!” shouted one of the Aldeans. “The rest of us will behave.” Xaca himself spit on the ground.

“Kill only Xaca and the rest learn,” Eliah argued. “Kill them all and you teach nothing. The dead can learn no lessons.”

“I grow tired of your insubordination.” Kli made a gesture with his hand of slicing his throat. Six sailors standing behind the six Aldean prisoners wielded knives. They slit the throats of the hapless enemy.

Eliah grimaced. Kalil turned away, tears of rage streaming down his cheek.

“As for you,” Kli continued, turning to them. “You will be dropped off on the nearest uninhabited island, which is—“ He turned to his navigator. 

“San Saman, sir.”

“Ah, yes, the little jungle isle.”

XXV: FOUNTAIN OF MALEI

“Here we are, stuck on this little island. No way to get words to our wives,” Kalil moaned. “Or my children.”

“There are ways in which it could have been much worse,” Eliah pointed out. “At least there are plenty of fruits to live on.”

“So, what do you want to do today?” Kalil asked with a bitter laugh.

“Let’s explore the interior some more.”

“Let me check my plans first,” Kalil joked, straight-faced. “Well, it looks like I’m free. Lead the way, son of Finail.”

They had been walking through dense jungle, when they happened upon a clearing. In the clearing was a fountain. It was shaped like a tree trunk, and water shot gently out of it, and bubbled down its sides. “Looks like we’re not the first to explore the interior of the island,” Kalil said softly.

Eliah knelt down by the pool surrounding the fountain. He cupped some water into his hands, and drank. It was cool and crisp. “At least we don’t have to worry about fresh water.”

“I wonder who was here, who did this,” Kalil remarked, running his hand along the smooth bottom of the pool, after he himself had partaken of the water. “It doesn’t look like Aldean or Terashiran or Fleurian style.”

“Maybe some indigenous people.”

“Terribly advanced indigenous people, if you ask me.” A far away look came to his face. “You don’t suppose¼”

“What?”

“The Malei.”

Eliah smirked. “The Malei?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I think Kiomar and all his lot are of the Malei. Visitors from another world.”

Eliah took another sip. “This water’s good. I mean, really good.”

Kalil gave a start.

“What’s up?”

“You know what I think this is? This is the Malei Fountain of Long Life.”

Eliah spit some of the water out. “If that’s true, that means that we’re now practically immortal. Like the so-called gods.”

A sad look came to Kalil’s eye. “I don’t know if I want to live that long.”

“Well, whatever water this is, what’s done is done. Time will tell. I doubt¼” Eliah paused. “I feel a warm, tingling sensation all over my body.”

Kalil nodded worriedly. “Yeah, me too.”

They said no more for awhile, but both knew that, ridiculous as it first seemed, Kalil’s theory about the water was true.

XXVI: DILEMMA

They had barely had time to grow beards when a ship came to the island. It was from Terashire. “Admiral Kli was killed in battle shortly after stranding you,” explained one of the men in the longboat. “His second-in-command was more favorable in outlook toward you, and he arranged for us to come by and fetch you.”

“Glad to hear it,” Eliah said.

“I suppose we should take a moment of silence for Admiral Kli,” Kalil said out of conscience’s necessity, but with little enthusiasm.

“Once we get to port, you can arrange for passage pack home,” the man told them.

“We’ve been released from service?” Eliah questioned.

“Didn’t you hear?” the man asked, straight-faced. “The war is over. Two islands are ours, and the third has been divided in half.”

“Hurrah!” Kalil psuedo-cheered. “More real estate bought by blood.”

The man shrugged. “There weren’t too many losses.”

“Each life is sacred,” Kalil insisted.

Eliah came up behind him and clasped his shoulder. “Well, unless my sense of time has faded away here on this island, we should be home in time for my wife to give birth.”

When they arrived home, Zavanra was round with child, but glowing with pride and beauty. Eliah greeted her with a kiss, as did Kalil, but Eliah’s was on the lips and Kalil’s only chastely on the cheek. They also greeted Rianna, whose husband Bluddwinn had himself just gotten home, albeit with a new limp.

Eliah, his wife, and Kalil were walking the outskirts of Debrin when Eliah asked his friend, “Who are you going to have assist you during the labor? Rianna?”

“No, I think I’m experienced enough now to handle it myself. But having you close by or at her side even would help.”

Zavanra looked up at her husband. “Yes, I would like that very much.”

“Should it be at my family’s house?” Eliah wondered next.

“Where were you born?” Zavanra questioned.

“Actually, it was outside,” Kalil answered for his friend. “In a clearing not far from here.”

“Then that’s where I want to be. Will it be private?”

Kalil shrugged. “It’s not a crowded place, if that’s what you’re worried about. We can bring some canvas to provide a little shade to either side of you, in case anyone wanders by.”

Eliah stopped, taking his wife by both hands. “Zavanra, there is something we have to tell you. Something happened to us while we were away.”

“Well, obviously you did not meet new women,” Zavanra chattered, a bit nervously. “And you do not have any handicapping war wounds.”

“No,” Kalil affirmed. “What we have to say is much¼odder.”

“But it is true, both of us have agreed on that,” Eliah continued.

“What under land and sky can it be?” Zavanra demanded, puzzled.

“We found the Malei’s sacred water,” Kalil explained.

“Which is¼?”

“According to legend, it grants eternal youth,” Eliah said.

“Eliah and I drank some before we realized what it was.”

“So..now you will never grow old?” Zavanra asked slowly, confusion in her eyes.

“Well, only time will tell,” Eliah stated.

“Are you going to share this discovery with the world?”

“Kalil and I agree it is more of a curse than a blessing. We had our rescuers destroy the fountain without telling them what it was they were doing. We brought home only a tiny amount in a canteen. What I’m about to ask isn’t easy—“

“You want me to drink the water as well.”

“I want you to consider it. Would you rather live century after century, never aging, or would you rather toil on this earth only a normal lifespan, aging as you went along?”

“If you want me to drink it so that I will always be with you, I will.”

“Think about it—a day, a week, a month, a year if you have to.”

XXVII: SUDDEN TRAGEDY

Zavanra still hadn’t decided when the time came to deliver the baby. She, Eliah, and Kalil walked as calmly as possible to the clearing, and Zavanra lay down on the ground. Eliah had brought a pillow for her head.

The labor pains were coming closer and closer together. Zavanra tried her best to obey Kalil’s directions. Eliah held on to her hand. As she tried to push the baby out, she squeezed his hand so hard she knew it must have hurt, but her husband showed no concern for himself.

As Zavanra strained, she suddenly found herself at the tops of the trees, looking down at herself, her husband, and Kalil. Suddenly, that image was gone, and she was again looking up at a concerned Eliah. In horror, she realized that her soul had left her body, and if it did so again, she might not be able to return. "Eliah!" she cried, gasping. "I-I am dying."

He clutched her shoulders. "No! You're not dying! Don't even think about doing that!" he shouted desperately. The brave and heroic man seemed like a little lost child.

"The water," Kalil suggested.

"Here, drink this," Eliah ordered to Zavanra, who was concentrating on merely breathing.

She got a little past her tongue, but most of it ran down her chin. "It...That can't save you from everything," she said, realizing something fundamental about the water.

"Oh, that may be true!" Kalil fretted. "The water may merely prolong life, but not protect you from the various dangers that come your way. We can still be killed, Eliah."

He seemed not to hear. He held on to his wife's hand, gazing searchingly into her eyes. 

Zavanra tried to focus on delivering the baby. At least, she did not want to take anyone else's life along with hers. She heard Kalil again telling her to push. What seemed like an eternity later, she heard the cries of an infant. She allowed herself a faint smile.

"It's a girl," Kalil announced. "And she's got peach skin, but some Azule striping."

"That must be pretty," Zavanra remarked. "Let me see."

Kalil placed the baby in her arms. Zavanra gazed for a long time at her daughter, then a wave of weakness passed over her again. She hurriedly passed the baby to Eliah. 

"Eliah, I know you and Kalil still have a long time in this world," she communicated between gasps. "So, if it is at all in my power, as you once promised me, **I** will come back to **you**. In another life, if that is allowed."

"Zavanra--" Eliah began.

"But if you find someone new, I will understand."

"No one--" Eliah's tongue tripped on his words. "Zavanra..."

"I know you said that doesn't happen, that people don't come back again and again, but maybe it is allowed for it to happen once in a while."

"I don't want you to go now. We have so much to do as husband and wife, as father and mother..."

"I will come back to you," Zavanra repeated, and her eyes rolled toward the heavens...

...And she found herself standing in nothingness, and two voices spoke from somewhere behind her.

"...If it is allowed to her..."

"But where will she go in the meantime?" Was that O'felia?

"If she goes to heaven, she will never want to come back." Then perhaps this voice belonged to Finail.

"I want to be with Eliah," Zavanra said, not knowing in which direction to face.

The male voice spoke again. "Yes, but until it is time for her to take another body, her spirit must remain on the world."

Then, for a moment Zavanra was again looking down on where her body lay. Kalil now held her baby, a careful distance away from Eliah, who, as Zavanra recalled, needed to be along in times of grief. If Eliah noticed the presence of Kalil and the baby, he didn't show it. He had fallen to the ground, his fists pounding the earth, his body trembling with tears.

After that, Zavanra found herself looking out to sea, as she often had for Eliah's ship. And she kept looking...and looking...


	4. Part Four: New Incarnation

INTERLUDE

**She is standing there, looking out to sea, waiting for her time to come again.**

**I discovered this upon returning to the colony at Finail. Kalil followed me off the ship. I carried my baby girl, Lura, in my arms. Zavanra’s father, Zavan, and her stepsister, Xalina, met me. They already knew that she had died. “How did you know?” I asked them.**

**“We have seen her katara looking out to sea,” Zavan replied. **

**I waited several nights before I, too, spotted the apparition. Her face was like mist. The blue of the night colored her hair. She did not see me; did not react to my presence. Yet I know she is waiting there for me.**

**I have seen her several times since then. Sometimes her face covers the whole sky, other times she is just the size she was when she was human. Always, she just stares, unseeing. I wonder what she is thinking, if anything. What kind of existence does she have?**

**One time she was conscious; one time she did react. I brought Lura with me. She was now in her teenage years. Lura could not see the ghost, for she was blind. But she was a very capable girl, with a beautiful singing voice. “Mother, it is me, your child,” she called out.**

**Zavanra’s phantom had been looming large in the sky, but she suddenly turned, and shrunk down to human proportions. She stood in front of Lura, touching her face with a ghostly hand. Then she disappeared, and I saw her no more that night.**

**Lura grew up loving both peachskin and Azule; she could not see the difference between them. She married a peachskin, but out of individual love for him, not because she preferred peachskins to Azules. They had three children, who looked like purebred peachskins.**

**Kalil’s sons married as well. Orendi got old and died. So did Lura, and one by one, the sons of Kalil. But Kalil and I did not age. Kalil thought this a curse more and more each day.**

**Kalil has not sought romance, for he fears losing another wife to old age. I have not sought romance, for I know Zavanra will come again to me.**

_Summer burns into autumn; autumn grows into winter. Spring triumphs over winter, then itself is melted by summer. Summer burns into autumn…The seasons come and go, come and go. I barely see them. It seems all like a minute to me._

_Is he coming over the ocean? Coming in a tall ship, rejoicing in the knowledge that he shall soon see me again? I keep looking, looking…_

_Perhaps…Perhaps he is waiting for me. Then why do I just stand here, looking at the ocean? What must I wait for before I return again to him?_

_It is cold, cold up here, way up in the sky. I have no way of warming myself, nor any need. Yet I still feel the frosty wind rip right through me._

_Once I see her. It is our baby, she is calling to me. “Mother, it is me, your child.” Oh, dear one, you are so beautiful._

_Then once again, I am waiting._

PART TWO

I: NEW INCARNATION

Ranzie Sharpay was a halfbreed. She was proud. Both of her parents were viewed as martyrs in the cause of peace between races. Her mother Nuvida, an Azule chieftain’s daughter, had been murdered by her own antagonistic cousin. Her peachskin father, Eyhern Sharpay, was sentenced to death by a prejudiced officer. Ranzie had been raised by Sharpay’s best friend, Yhosmeit Usado. Her mentor was the ex-officer Ralf Doalt. Ralf had told Ranzie much of the bloodshed between peachskin and Azule. He had also told her of the many valiant attempts at peace. Her name spoke of the dreams of her parents; it meant hope.

Ranzie was also fascinated by the tales of long ago, of when an Azule maiden named Zavanra had saved the life of a peachskin settler, Eliah Qwess. Often, she found herself reliving the stories in her dreams. They seemed so vivid. Ralf claimed to be a descendant of Eliah and Zavanra; their daughter Lura had married into the Doalt family. But Ranzie wasn’t related to Zavanra in any way, was she? 

She once corrected someone who was mistelling a Zavanra tale. The stranger said that Zavanra had had a steamy affair with a Captain Gheenquest. “No!” Ranzie insisted. “She had a crush on him. But she did not act on it, and Captain Gheenquest remained a perfect gentleman around her.”

“That’s right!” Ralf told her later. “But how could you know all that?”

People noticed that Ranzie had the same facial pattern in her Azule stripes as Zavanra did. Sometimes they thought it remarkable, and other times they pointed out they only knew Zavanra’s markings from an artist’s rendering—maybe the artist took liberties. Besides, it was only her face—did the pattern all over Ranzie’s body match Zavanra’s? It was a generally held belief that no two Azules were striped in exactly the same way.

Ralf passed away from a sudden disease. As Ranzie and Ralf’s friend Brandy organized his belongings, they came across a photograph. Ranzie was fascinated by this new method of capturing images. There was something familiar about the man in the photo as well. She asked Brandy about it. “That’s a picture of ex-president Tiberius,” the plucky widow explained. “He visited Croanoke while he was still president, shortly after the big massacre.”

“He looks like…” Ranzie began, then trailed off. A name came suddenly to mind. “Eliah Qwess.”

“What does Eliah Qwess look like?” Brandy asked.

“There must be paintings of him somewhere,” Ranzie argued. She held the picture to her bosom. “Will anyone mind if I keep this photograph?”

“I think Ralf would be honored for you to have any of his stuff.”

That night, in her teepee, Ranzie fell asleep with the photo resting on her chest. She dreamed of Tiberius, of Eliah Qwess. And all the while words echoed in her head: _I will come back to you…I will come back to you…_

Her dreams did not fade into murkiness when she awoke. Fingering the portrait, she said aloud, “You, Tiberius, are Eliah Qwess.” _You have changed your name since no one would believe you are Eliah Qwess._

“And I—” She took a deep breath before taking the plunge that would change her life—her second life. “I am Zavanra.”

She stood up to exit her teepee. “And I am coming back to you.”

II: SPREADING HER WINGS

When Usado came back to his tent that night, Ranzie was waiting with his supper. “Usado”, she called him, as everyone did. “I have been thinking.”

“Yeah?” Usado grunted as he sat down at the outdoor benches. 

“I am eighteen now. Is it not time for me to be an adult?”

“Heck, the way you used to act nine going on forty makes me think you were an adult a long time ago.”

Ranzie smiled inwardly. _If only you knew how right you are, Usado…_

She came to her point. “I wish to leave here.”

This finally drew a true reaction from her foster parent. Usado choked a little. “Leave? But you don’t have a job to support yourself.”

“Perhaps I will find one where I am going.”

Usado placed his hands on his hips. “Well, if you are grown up now, you just are, that’s all there is to it. Just write back to me once in awhile. I’d still like to know what my best friend’s daughter is up to.”

“Oh, of course I will!” Ranzie insisted, holding out her knuckles to touch her foster father’s in the hand symbol called amgee, which silently spoke of affection.

III: BACK HOME AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME

She made her way east, relying on the hospitality of strangers. She learned of music from an old, freed Silver couple. She stayed in the cabins of an Azule tribe unknown to her. She barely escaped a plantation woman who tried to marry her to her son.

Thus it was that she finally came to Tiberius’ simple cabin. She reached a hand up to knock. _What do I say?_ she thought suddenly. _Will he know me?_ She rapped weakly on the door. No one came. She knocked harder.

The door opened. Ranzie held her breath. It was—it was—Kalil! He didn’t seem to know her. “Yes?”

“Kalil.”

“Yes?” he repeated. “Wait a minute, my name’s not—”

Zavanra smiled warmly. “I wish to speak to Eliah Qwess.”

“Eliah?” He became flustered. “There’s no Eliah here—”

“Tell him it’s—” She paused as Kalil looked behind him, opening the door farther back.

“—Zavanra!” Eliah exlaimed, his face growing pale. He walked up to her, taking her hands in his own. 

Kalil stood numbly back as the two stared into each other’s eyes. Finally, he mentioned, “How do you know it’s her, Eliah?”

“She has the same exact skin markings. Don’t scholars say no two Azules’ patterns are alike?”

Kalil nodded thoughtfully, gazing at the girl. “Do you remember your life? Tell us some things the history books leave out, that only we would know.” Eliah nodded; despite his instant acceptance, he still harbored some doubts.

“My father was Zavan—” the reincarnated lady began.

“Everyone knows that,” Kalil pointed out.

“His mystic was Uboro. My stepsister was Xalina. It was a male named Shodish and I who first greeted you upon the shore. Eliah’s mother was O’felia Mahawk-Qwess, his father Finail. Finail’s brother was Dorios.”

As she went on, Kalil found himself more and more convinced. She named many minor characters that history had forgotten, plus she described scenes in vivid detail.

When she had talked until she could talk no more, she and Eliah looked at Kalil, anxiously awaiting his judgement. “Well, there’s only one or two things left to do,” he began.

“Yes?” the couple asked.

Kalil took one of Ranzie’s hands and kissed it. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Zavanra.”

“Thank you, Kalil,” she said graciously.

He took a coat off the rack by the door. “I better find an inn for the night. You two will want to be alone.”

“No,” Eliah insisted. “Zavanra—is your name still Zavanra?”

“My name now is Ranzie Sharpay. Are we eloping?”

“You married me as Zavanra. You didn’t marry me as Ranzie. Ranzie has a reputation to keep.”

Kalil nodded. “He’s got a point there.”

“Well, I’ve waited this long,” Eliah said with a sigh. “A few more days won’t make a difference.”

They spent the next couple of days catching up on each other’s lives. She told him of the struggles of Croanoke, of people of varying races trying to live in peace. He told her of their daughter Lura’s life, and of his tenure as president of the United Colonies.

Then Kalil and Eliah engineered something that was beginning to be a habit for them. They faked the deaths of ex-president Tiberius and his assistant by burning their log cabin to the ground, with two corpses dug up from the graveyard burning down with it.

Eliah and Kalil took on new identities. They traveled with Ranzie back to the Croanoke Territory, where Eliah and Ranzie were married once more. They lived there for awhile, and later spent several years on the continent of Zehran. With Ranzie’s friends Kori and Orissa, they were digging up artifacts of extinguished Silver cultures. Ranzie enjoyed helping ethnic groups recover their heritage. Eventually, though, she grew anxious to return to her own ethnic group, so they moved back to the cluster of teepees in the Croanoke Territory.

Ranzie lived for over sixty years. Eventually, the time came for her second body to die, but Eliah’s grief was lessened. She said she would come back, return again and again as long as he lived, and Eliah knew she would be true to her word.

THE END…for now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're playing along at home, here are the characters my characters are based on:
> 
> Zavanra-Pocahontas  
> Eliah-John Smith  
> Finail-Sinbad  
> O'felia-Maeve  
> Kalil-Firouz  
> Dorios-Doubar  
> Grablock-Ratcliffe  
> Zavan-Powhatan  
> Xalina-Nakoma  
> Gheenquest--John Rolfe  
> Rianna-Bryn  
> Bluddwinn-Dermott
> 
> In case you're wondering, a Rongar-based character appears in my O'felia story.
> 
> The very end of "Zavanra" features characters from a story I intend to post here, "The Croanoke Guard Massacre". It's a tragic, violent story based on of all things, the zany, light-hearted Western, F Troop.


End file.
